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COLGAN, COLIN C., 65, of New Port Richey, died Sunday (Oct. 5, 2003) at Community Hospital of New Port Richey. Born in Lakewood, Ohio, he came here in 1975 from Prince Georges County, Md. He was a firefighter in Maryland and a member of the International Association of Firefighters Chapter 1619. He was a Navy veteran and a member of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church. Survivors include a son, Colin A., Clearwater; two daughters, Jeanne Dingus and Cathy Colgan, both of Virginia; a brother, Eugene "Cully," Bowie, Md.; and eight grandchildren. Thomas B. Dobies Funeral Homes, Holiday, Fla.
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This is a tribute in memory of the bravest man I ever knew. After having devoted his life to saving others lives, he found himself fighting to save his own life in March of 2003. After having lost 1 leg to diabetes, and then being put on a ventilator, he had to face a 2nd amputation. Through the next 8 months, he fought very hard to be as independent as he possibly could given his circumstances. He went through months of hell..we both did. In Sept. of 2003, we had his tracheostomy removed~and he did great. He was even driving again with no legs!! When we went to his doctor on Oct.2nd for a check~up, he proclaimed him to be 100%. Three days later, he died in my arms on his kitchen floor. With him, he took a large part of me. However, he also left a huge part of himself within me. As our eyes looked at one another and he could not get his breath, I knew he chose to leave my arms and enter God's. He said he could never survive another hospital stay. He died as he wished, at home, and not alone. However, his loss has affected the lives of so many~his friends, his children, his grandchildren, & his great~grandchildren. In us, he lives on. My life, all our lives, and this world~have suffered a great loss. There are some people who come along in life and remain forever in your heart, and my father was one of those people to all who knew him.
Long after he is gone~the men he fought fires with will tell of the jokes they played on one another, and his friends and family will still hear the echo of his constant whistling tunes. All of us who knew him and loved him, will be stronger and more appreciative of life because of the courage and strength & dignity he displayed all his life~especially the last 8 months of it. He taught us that no matter how much is gone of your physical body, it is the spirit and loving heart which makes you taller than any mountain here on earth. He was big to me when I was but a small girl wearing his fireman's outfit...but he was bigger to me in the last few months of his life when he was not even able to stand. He stood taller, prouder, and happier than any soul I have yet to meet in this world.
You leave all our lives now Daddy...a little sadder, a little emptier~but a whole lot richer~because we were honored to know both an angel and a hero embodied in one soul and life. A very rare gift indeed. God bless you, finally, with the peace you deserve more than any person I have ever known. I love you, and we all love you, today~tomorrow, and forever...until we meet again I remain your daughter, and your friend....
All my love, Cathy
Love, me 10//21/03
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