Colleen D. Abbenhaus

Colleen Abbenhaus passed away on September 24, 2026 at home, at the age of 63. She was invited to the breast cancer after party, and did not make it out alive. She was born on May 21, 1963, at the 97th General Hospital in Frankfurt, Germany, for those of you who did not grow up an Army brat. She lived in more places than most people vacation. Moving to new places was a big part of her life, and she continued that habit until 1995 because it was time to settle down.

Colleen and Bruce quietly got married in July 1993… well maybe not that quiet. She missed the metro and had to wait a half hour, and he thought that she bolted. Colleen was running into the building while Bruce was running out. Yes, the Marriage God knew that Bruce and Colleen belonged together. In 1998, Bruce decided to move in with Colleen, and they created a great life in Newtown, Pennsylvania. They developed a great homelife, and wonderful friendships. Plus, Newtown had a great bookstore, and a fun yarn shop.

Colleen is survived by her sons, Alexander Patin of Richmond, VA, and Tim Patin of Newtown, PA, daughter-with-love, Jessica Voutsinas of Richmond, VA, and Dude, the whack-a-doodle. She loves them, and knows that they will carry forward her legacy of travel, adventure, kindness and curiosity. Her favorite memory of Tim was when he was three years old and told her that he needed a mouth that was bigger so that it could hold his smile; she also loved his adventurous spirit where he biked like a crazy man around the neighborhood and climbed light poles because he could. Her favorite memories of Alex were how he enjoyed playing soccer and was his own thundering herd. She loved going to marching band games, and was thrilled that Alex made a field goal during a half time competition. She loved when Alex and Tim invited their friends over to go sledding, and she got to make hot chocolate for all the kids when they came home. One thing that she got from her mom was invite everyone over and make the house a home. She tried to ensure that her children would be good and caring adults, and she is proud of them and their accomplishments. She is also survived by many friends who stuck with her and kept her sane over the years. She wants to make sure that they know that they were loved an appreciated for accepting her level of crazy. She is also survived by her books and yarn stash. She will miss all of them, but let’s be honest, she would never be able to knit or read that much.

Colleen had an insatiable curiosity of the world and how it worked. Her book stash includes all types of genres, and she recommends that everyone reads. Colleen’s knitting adventures started when she was travelling for work and needed to do more than eat, sleep and watch tv after work. Knitting became an obsession, almost an addiction. Colleen and Bruce loved walking. For many years, they did an anniversary death march which started because they got lost when they were looking for waterfalls on their first anniversary. Later, when they became a bit lazier, they started going to the shore and would do the beached whale thing, which also made them happy. Colleen and Bruce still loved to walk, and you could find them around Newtown, where they enjoyed talking to the business owners and people who also roamed Newtown. Colleen had many diverse interests, where she took painting classes (it’s not about being good, but enjoying the process), she loved eating but hated cooking, did some rock climbing, camping, ballroom dancing to name a few things. If you didn’t know reading, and knitting was huge in her life. She also loved being with her friends and the great conversations, no matter what direction they took.

She was of the era where public service was important. She started working for the Army at the age of 14 as a summer hire. She then worked at Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center and the Rocky Mountain Arsenal while she got her degree the University of Colorado. She then worked at the U.S. DOT, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in Springfield, IL, and settled on Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration because she realized that enforcement was how she found joy at work. She started in Washington, DC, before they had field offices, moved to Chicagoland to open the first field office, and was asked to take over the Eastern Region office in Trenton because it was, according to her boss, a hot mess and they needed help. Common sense told her to say no, so she did. However, that day, she came home to find out that her apartment was sold and she needed to move. The Job Gods were telling her that she made the wrong decision, and did a mea culpa and would move to the East Coast. The early years of PHMSA was full of hard work and lots of fun. Christmas season was started in the enforcement office with a game of “kick the Frosty down the hall”. After 42 years in Federal Service, she realized that it would be more fun walking the dog.

As we remember Colleen, we are reminded of a life lived to the fullest, marked by love, laughter, and a wonder for the world and all it holds. Colleen is happy to join Bruce in heaven.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you please consider making a memorial contribution, in Colleen's name, to 350.0rg by clicking on the link below.