Colleen Cottle

Colleen Cottle

Wasilla resident, Colleen Gay Cottle, 81, passed away on November 7, 2019 after battling Lymphoma. Colleen was born in Anchorage, Alaska on April 3, 1938 and was the first-born child of Walter and Vivian Teeland. Colleen’s family moved from Anchorage to Wasilla in 1947, when her parents purchased the Knik Trading Co. and renamed it Teeland’s Country Store. From a young age, she worked in the store and assisted with the bookkeeping.

Colleen graduated from Wasilla High School in 1956 and earned a Bachelors in Accounting from the University of Oregon in 1960. She was proud of being one of the first women CPA’s in Alaska. She served as a member of the Wasilla City Council for many years between 1985 and 2001.

Colleen married Rodney R. Cottle on June 28, 1958. Together they raised four children and loved living on Lake Lucille where they hosted yearly summer picnics, family gatherings and watched over the loons nesting on the island.

She said her greatest gifts were her family! She was extremely proud of and adored each and every one of her twelve grandchildren and one great grandson. She had a terrific memory and would often be called upon to answer historical questions about Wasilla and its earliest residents.

Colleen loved to look out at the lake, while talking with her closest friends and relatives about the events happening in Wasilla. She was astonished at the growth of Wasilla in her lifetime and took special interest in the economic expansion of the community.

Colleen is preceded in death by her husband of 55 years, Rodney Cottle in 2013; parents, Walter and Vivian Teeland, maternal grandparents Evan and Bronwen Jones of Evan Jones Coal Mine and paternal grandparents John and Kate Teeland. She is survived by four children; Andrew Cottle and wife Jennifer of Eagle River, John Cottle and wife Toni of Houston, Texas, Wendy Riekena and husband Blake, and Misty Holler and husband Doug both of Wasilla; grandchildren: Rhys Cottle, Macsen Cottle, Rhiannon Cottle, Denali Cottle, Presley Cottle, Sailor Cottle, Rylan Cottle, Brecken Riekena-Bisbing, Foster Riekena, Garrison Holler, Roman Holler, Mason Holler and great-grandson Kannon Garrett; brothers, Walter Teeland and family of Brisbane Australia and Lawrence Teeland and family of Stockholm Sweden, and many first cousins. A Memorial Service will be held at the First Presbyterian Church of Wasilla with Pastor Henry Woodall officiating on November 16, 2019 at 3:00 pm, reception to immediately follow at the VFW Post 9365.

Arrangements are with Alaskan Heritage Memorial Chapel & Crematory.