Colleen Mary Cluka-Gordon, 57

Colleen Gordon, 57, left to be with her lord and savior Jesus Christ on Feb. 17, 2010, in Las Vegas, with her loving family in attendance at her side. Colleen was born July 19, 1953, in Bertha, Minn., to Robert and Mary Cluka. Her family, including her two brothers and three sisters, spent time living in both Chester and Conrad before settling in Columbia Falls around 1965. Colleen graduated from Columbia Falls High School in 1971. In 1976 she married Richard Gordon of Whitefish. In 1977, Colleen gave birth to her son and only child, Jesse. Colleen relocated to Salt Lake City in 1978. During her time in Salt Lake, she briefly remarried, attained an associate-level business degree and became a small-business owner. In the early 1990s, Colleen and her partner, Dennis David, moved to Lake Havasu City, Ariz., to start a new business of their own. Colleen and Dennis were the owner-operators of Petrossi s Pizza in Lake Havasu for nearly 18 years and in that time made many friends with both the locals and the seasonal snowbirds who visited every year. Colleen loved spending her time with friends and family and was an incredibly social person. She was an avid wine connoisseur and enjoyed planting flowers year round, reading and music. One of Colleen s greatest joys was the time spent with her niece Jamie and Jamie s son Ayden. Although Colleen was Ayden s great-aunt, in Ayden s eyes she was like a grandmother, and she showered him with both the love and affection afforded a grandson. She will be missed in ways that cannot be expressed in words. Colleen was preceded in death by her parents, William Bob Cluka and Mary Cluka, and brother-in-law Larry Brown. Colleen is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Jesse and Jamison Gordon of Olympia, Wash.; siblings Yvonne Corbett and Jim Corbett, Donald and Cozy Cluka and Ben Cluka and Michelle Price, all of Kalispell, Donna Hasson and Wayne Wick of Whitefish, and Carol Cluka-Long of Lake Havasu City; partner Dennis David of Lake Havasu City; as well as 10 nephews and nieces and nine grand-nephews and grand-nieces. Colleen s ashes will be interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in Columbia Falls at a future date.