On the morning of August 27th, 2021 Colleen McKenna-Fisher, age 59, of Frisco, NC was peacefully received into God’s loving arms, with her husband Rick, sister Nancy, and sister-in-law Schatzie by her side at Sentara Heart Hospital Norfolk. She was the daughter of the late James D. McKenna and Yolande Marie Salter.
Colleen is survived by her husband of 25 years Richard Fisher of Frisco, NC, her stepfather David C. Salter and sisters Nancy and Christiane, brother Keith, nieces Stephanie and Andrea, and nephew Jeffrey.
Colleen grew up in Montreal, Canada. After completing high school, she moved out west to Whistler, BC to further her skiing and racing career. She trained, taught, and raced for many years until a bad skiing accident changed the course of her life. Never one to be deterred by her health issues; she forged ahead and received her BA in Exercise Science in NC, where she lived with her parents. She loved the outdoors and the sun and spent vacations at the family home in Eleuthera as well as windsurfing on the Outer Banks of NC.
On one of her Hatteras trips, she met Rick, the love of her life. They were married at historic Ayr Mount in Hillsborough NC managed by Rick’s sister and her husband Bill. They shared many special holidays together.
Colleen and Rick made Hatteras their home. Together they created a beautiful and unique home that suited their lifestyle and was in concert with the natural world around them. They had many fun-filled yearly family visits and reunions with Colleen’s family, in spite of some challenging weather.
Colleen enjoyed a great long career in physical therapy at OBH Nags Head. Her passion to help her patients and commitment to their care was well known amongst her peers. She cherished the friends she made at work, as well as her longtime friends from their neighborhood.
Sadly over the years, she continued to struggle with her health, not one to complain, many never knew this. Colleen’s love and passion for life, her determination, bravery, and selflessness will always be remembered and cherished.
Colleen had a life-long love and compassion for all dogs; especially her two constant water dog beach companions which are with her in eternal peace. She leaves in Rick’s care their 3-year old rescue pup. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations are made to the Outer Banks SPCA Dare County Animal Shelter, www.obxspca.org.
