Coleen Caren Duncan
Sept. 7, 1965-July 5, 2023
Atherton, California

The family of Coleen Duncan are saddened to share the news of her passing on July 5, 2023. She was 57 years old and died of colon cancer. She was peacefully at home surrounded by her family. She is locally known for directing and choreographing the Dancer's Repertoire Theater production of "Twas the Night Before Christmas". During those 15 years, she instilled a love of dance and theater into countless children and brought joy to every audience. Her spirit touched everyone who knew her.

Coleen grew up in Atherton where she attended local schools and graduated from Menlo Atherton High School. She had the honor of dancing at the graduation Baccalaureate ceremony. She was also a cheerleader and active in the theater. She attended De Anza College and CA State Northridge where she choreographed a new musical for the school.

After college, she worked for the Hyatt Corp. in both Los Angeles and San Francisco. Following that she spent 7 years as the suite manager at the San Jose Sharks.

Coleen's love of dance began at age 4 and she studied all genres under RoseAnn Saylor at the Menlo Park Academy of Dance. She began dancing in "Twas the Night Before Christmas" at the age of 8 with Jeannde Herst and remained in the cast until she was 18. Her favorite role was that of the Russian Ribbon Doll. The show brought her immense joy. She revived the show in 2005 after a 10 year hiatus and continued its beloved tradition until 2019.

During that time, she continually inspired dancers, parents and audiences due to the fact that she did it all from a wheelchair, as she had battled serious diseases since the age of 12. Her relationship with children was a thing to behold. They never saw her as handicapped. They only saw her as kind, creative, loving and exceptionally talented.

She was the CA State Junior Rhythmic Gymnastic champion at age 12. She was crowned Miss Redwood City, Miss San Mateo Country and competed in the Miss California pageant.

She is survived by her mother, Sylvia Duncan and her siblings Andrew Duncan, Constance Littlefield and Cynthia Collins. In addition, she is survived by her beloved service dog "Cookie", life-long friend Bobbette Washburn and former husband James Zogzas.

On Coleen's new journey, she would like you to remember her favorite saying, "...and to all a good night".