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Colleen Marcik, a lifelong resident of Guilford, passed away Feb. 12 at the age of 24. Colleen was born on March 1, 1994, to Larry and Sharon Marcik and grew up in the log home that her loving parents built for her and her brother Wes in Guilford. She also leaves her loving grandparents Larry and Marian Marcik and Carol Woolley, as well as several aunts, uncles, and cousins.

With dreams to help everyone around her, Colleen was an exceptional nurse at both Yale-New Haven Hospital and Connecticut Children’s Medical Center; she had hopes of returning to school to become a nurse anesthetist. Just like her late mother Sharon, Colleen had an infectious smile and strong desire to make the lives of people around her better. Since she was a little girl, Colleen had a passion for ice hockey. She grew up playing with her brother and in various local youth programs; she eventually served as captain of the Women’s Ice Hockey Team at Salve Regina University.

Colleen had so much love in her heart and soul. She was on a mission to positively impact everyone around her, even going so far as to rescue her two dogs, Gunner and Crixis, and love them as her own children. We can still hear her beautiful laugh when she watches Crix bring a tree-size log over to her as a beautiful gift or when Gunner snuggles up to her for protection because he heard a weird sound outside. She was a light in this world, and she is gone too soon.

Colleen’s visitation is scheduled for Feb. 20 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., followed by a Mass at St. George’s Parish, 33 Whitfield St., Guilford, CT 06437. She will be laid to rest next to her lifelong best friend and mom, Sharon, in Alder Brook Cemetery, in Guilford. A luncheon will follow at Branford Yacht Club, 39 Goodsell Point Rd., Branford, CT 06405. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that all donations be made in Colleen’s name to the ALS Association (www.alsa.org) or to Project Semicolon (https://projectsemicolon.com/). Arrangements in the care of the Guilford Funeral Home, 115 Church St., Guilford. To share a memory or leave a message of condolence, visit www.guilfordfuneralhome.com.