Born April 28, 1930 in Shanghai, China she attended St. Josephs Academy in Tientsing China run by the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary. During the revolutionary post WWII years at age 16 she left China and immigrated to the United States where she attended Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky. She received a B.A. in Nursing in 1950 and met her future husband, the late Chung Yu Shen. They married June 10, 1952 and eventually moved to St. Louis in 1958. There she lovingly raised Sheldon Shih Ta, Vincent Shih Wen and Anthony Shih In. In 1963 she received a Masters in Education from Washington University and taught kindergarten and first grade for twenty seven years at Spoede Elementary in the Ladue School District, retiring in 1990. She took great joy and responsibility in having the privilege to influence and guide the lives of hundreds of productive students who have gone into all walks of life. It gave her great happiness to hear how these students grew up to lead their own lives. Besides teaching and her family, Colleen had a great passion for travel with her husband Chung Yu. Colleen will be remembered as deeply compassionate and religious person who cared deeply for the needs of the poor and disadvantaged. Colleen now joins her late sister Connie and Norma. She will be missed greatly by her surviving brother Robert Yu of Beijing, China, her 3 children, 10 grandchildren, 5 great-grandchildren, and many friends.