Colleen Helen Harris

Born:     September 9, 1958

Parents:     Donald Simpson (Father), Beverly Simpson (Mother)

Siblings:     Cassidy Dorneman, Lacey O’Reilly, Amanda Grady

Spouse:     Derrick Harris

Children:     Chad Harris, Kendall Harris (deceased)

Grandchildren:     Savannah Harris, Miranda Harris, Kerrigan Harris, Sierra Harris, Kendall Harris

Photo Gallery:     Secondary Character Album

Bio:     Colleen met Derrick Harris when she was a freshman in high school and he was a junior.  She fell in love with him right away and knew that he was the one she was going to marry.  She won him over easily as he tells everyone that she has a smile that could win over anyone’s heart.  After he graduated, he ‘promised’ himself to her and joined the army.  Once she graduated, he returned and married her while on leave.  She went with him back to Yuma, AZ where he was stationed but hated it and missed her family horribly.  She is extremely close to her sisters, especially Lacey, who is only thirteen months older than she is.  Derrick understood her sadness and loneliness as he was out on details often and sent her back to Gotham to live with her parents and she gave birth to their first son, Chad.  She missed him terribly, but he was able to get leave often and they made the most of the time they had.  She also lived on the promise that he would not re-enlist and when the time came, he did not.

With the help of her parents and sisters, she was able to attend college and obtain her degree in elementary education.  She then became a teacher at Jefferson Elementary School where she taught until she retired with tenure.  When Derrick retired, she agreed that they should move to Florida so he could be closer to his mother and assist his brother in her care, as she suffers from early onset Alzheimer’s and their sister is living in England with her husband who is British.  However, all of Colleen’s family still resides in Gotham.  Her parents are still living in the same home she grew up in.  Her sisters all live in Gotham with their husbands, their children all have children.

The death of her youngest son hit her hard and the grief was unbearable for her.  She fell into a deep depression and remembers little of Derrick getting her to the funeral.  Anyone asks her, all she remembers is going through the motions.  She remembers nothing of seeing her son in the casket or holding her granddaughter while they both sobbed at the graveside service.  She vaguely remembers asking Derrick to take her home and that he misunderstood ‘home’ and returned them to Florida where her depression grew into a black hole that she could not crawl out from.  It was a call and an unexpected visit from a family friend that helped her out of the mire and helped her to realize that they needed to return to Gotham and help Savannah, Chad, and their other nieces through the grieving process.

Now, Colleen and Derrick reside in Gotham with the rest of their family.  They care for his mother via long distance conference calls with his brother and Derrick makes monthly trips to Florida to help with necessary decisions for her continued needs.