06/12/2026
🎶Member profile... meet Colleen!🎶
“If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it.” That old adage applies in all ways to Colleen. She joined our Northern Blend group in July of 2025 after moving to Oscoda to live with her daughter, Karen. She wasn’t new to barbershop, though, as she had sung with the Great Lakes Chorus from 1995 to 2006 when she moved to Colorado to live near her two daughters out west. While in Colorado, she sang with Mountain Harmony for the next 19 years.
But make no mistake, singing isn’t her only talent. After graduating high school in the Detroit area and earning her teaching degree from Wayne State and serving a short stint in the Detroit Public Schools, she spent 13 years at the YMCA as physical program director, where she organized such things as Corporate Olympics, adult leagues, and taught aerobics. She also was the education consultant for music, performing arts and physical movement. When she moved to Colorado, she took on the job of “concierge” or “house mother” at Jack’s Place, a cancer lodge treatment center run by the Shaw Cancer Center. She lived there in her own apartment for 19 years.
Colleen grew up in the Detroit area and is the mother of three girls, one of which is Karen, NBC's newest member! The other two girls live in Colorado: Meghan works in the public health field as a hospital education-health relations associate, and Kris is the communications director of Vail, Colorado. She boasts 8 grandchildren.
As a young girl, Colleen and her family spent summers at Cass Lake where she spent her time water skiing and partaking in other water sports. She claims her love of singing came from her grandmother who sat her down and told her, “I’m gonna learn ya how to sing alto.” The whole family was musical and had jam sessions every Sunday after dinner. Colleen also took 10 years of piano and dancing lessons (jazz and tap).
Throughout her life, she has had a love of international travel. She has visited Venice, New Zealand, Peru, Greece, Italy, Wales, Mexico, Switzerland, Spain, Ireland, Cambodia, Viet Nam, Rwanda, Cuba, Uganda, and Tahiti to name a few.
Today, Colleen has jumped into her new home and her new chorus with unbounded energy. She loves gardening, and she’s spent some time sprucing up her daughter’s yard. She is on the Oscoda Downtown Beautification Committee, she plays in two bridge clubs, loves to snow ski and is a “pro” at sailing. She serves on the NBC board and is our director of physical warmups… and she sings bass. She’s willing to tackle any job, and we can be assured that she will carry it through to perfection. Welcome, Colleen! You are worth your weight in gold.
