Colleen Kay McGinty

Colleen was born in Texas City, Texas, on Thanksgiving Day 1965 and died in San Antonio on Good Friday 2025. Always an independent spirit, she had a modeling career for several years after graduating in 1984 from Austin High School in Austin. She married Michael Terry in 1988 and had two sons, Christopher Michael Terry and Travis Andrew Terry. When the boys were young, Colleen wanted to fix up their house and started taking classes at a local Home Depot. She learned about carpentry, painting, plumbing, electrical, drywall, tiling, and power tools. Home Depot was so impressed with her remodel that they hired her as a sales associate and instructor. She then purchased two houses which she remodeled and flipped. Later she became one of the first women to work the contractor’s desk at Home Depot. Her specialty was carpentry and cabinet making.

Colleen always loved being outdoors. She was an accomplished small boat sailor, rode a Harley, and rarely put the top up on her red Miata. At age 55, Colleen decided it was time to finally go to college. She moved to San Antonio and enrolled at San Antonio College.

In late 2021, Colleen was diagnosed with uterine cancer. The cancer spread to her lymphatic system and eventually her brain. She was in hospice care at the time of her death.

Colleen lost her mother, Jerrie Hirsch McGinty, in 1998. She is survived by her second husband, Larry Paavola; her sons, Chris and Travis; her grandchildren, Oliver and Alaina Terry; her father, John McGinty; and her two sisters, Bonnie Smith and Kelly Hightower.

The family expresses appreciation to Colleen’s oncologist, Dr. James Szender, and to Guiding Light Hospice and Vitas Hospice for the competent professional care they extended to Colleen.

A memorial gathering for family and friends will be scheduled this summer to scatter her ashes.