Colleen Simmons Gainey

May 29, 2021

Colleen Simmons Gainey, an ageless beauty, passed away on May 29, 2021 at the Bickford of Suffolk, her home for the last four years. She was a native of Leland, North Carolina. In recent years she moved to Portsmouth, Virginia to be near her "Loving Family" as she always called them. Colleen attended Western Branch Baptist Church and was a talented crafter from crochet, embroidery, to decoupage and flower arrangement. She had a green thumb to boot! She was the former greeter and Limousine driver for Loving Funeral Home. She enjoyed boating and water sports with her late husband, William T. Gainey “Bill”. Colleen is survived by her sister, Barbara S. Loving; nephew, H. David Loving, Jr. (Melody); great-niece Suzanne Loving; nieces, Debra L. Loving, Beth Yates and Judy Barnes and many other adopted family members who called her Aunt Colleen. She is also survived by her cousins the Croom family on the peninsula and the Gainey family of Delco, NC. She leaves behind her best friend Joy Vick. We would like to thank the staff of the Bickford for the excellent care, attention and love given to their Aunt Colleen for the last four years. We would also like to express our gratitude for the excellent nursing care given to her by Carol Larkin from Heartland Hospice. Colleen and Bill never had children of their own, so all their friends and neighbors’ children were treated as their own. In honor of their love of children, the family suggest memorial contributions to the Girl Scout Council of Colonial Coast, 912 Cedar Road, Chesapeake, VA 23322 (https://www.gsccc.org/en/donate/donate-online.html) or the Boys & Girls Homes of North Carolina, 400 Flemington Drive, PO Box 127, Lake Waccamaw, NC 28450 (https://www.boysandgirlshomes.org/donate) A funeral service will be conducted by Dr. Dan Koger in Loving Funeral Home on Wednesday, June 2 at 2 pm. A visitation will be held in the funeral home on Tuesday from 5 to 6:30 pm. A committal service will be held on Friday, June 4, 2012 at the Delco Cemetery in Delco, North Carolina.