Coletta Bina

MADISON - Coletta Mulvihill Bina passed away on Tuesday, December 10, 2024. She was born on March 6, 1944, in Chicago and went on to have one hell of a life! She was number five out of six for Tommy and Belle Mulvihill. She followed Noreen, Lois, Sheila, and Dennis and came just before Michael. Her sisters were quite a bit older and so she, Denny, and Mike operated as a unit. Her siblings weren't always the nicest and she still bears the scar from when a bucket with a cat in it was dropped on her head. The reverse wasn't true and she helped to care for her brothers and her nephew. By the time she was 10, her mom expected her to prepare the dinner for the night. We all benefited from this early training, because she was an amazing cook.

Tommy wasn't the type of person that could hold down a normal job, but he and Belle always scraped together enough money to get by and send the kids to Catholic school. With that said, Coletta remembers moving between apartments when there wasn't enough money for rent. The family also made a big move to Phoenix, Arizona when one of Tommy's schemes was successful. Coletta never loved the desert and never forgot the day when it looked like the oriental rug was moving as a scorpion prepared to strike. Throughout all of this, she was an excellent student. Her associative mind was especially good at history - easily noticing trends and patterns across time periods. There wasn't, however, enough money or scholarships for college, so she decided to join the convent in Dubuque.

We all struggle to imagine mom in that setting. In part, because she was a person that felt completely comfortable ignoring other peoples' rules - especially if they seemed arbitrary. But, it is important to remember, that the hero of this story always found ways to make the best of things - even when it was hard. At the convent, she made a number of great friends that were with her until the very end, including the analytical Rita O'Connor and the mercurial Barbara Adrianopoli. Of these three, Coletta was the first to escape the convent and move back to Chicago. She was only one semester short of graduation, but with the support of Father Thomas Munson, she graduated from Mundelein University.

Like many graduates in the late 60s, Coletta's early 20s didn't follow a well-defined path. She taught elementary school, was an anti-war activist with the Quakers, worked on the Bobby Kennedy Campaign, and even moved to California - where she briefly was a destination for nuns leaving the convent. She eventually ended up moving to Madison, Wisconsin, to pursue a Master’s degree in history (one of the few things she left unfinished in life).  

Around this time, Coletta worked with a small group of other teachers to start Malcolm Shabazz High School, an alternative school that still exists today. Long before there was a deep understanding of different learning styles, they created an environment where the focus wasn't coloring by numbers or following a strict curriculum, but a place where each student could work to define their own pathway. Their innovations changed the lives of many struggling students who went on to be incredibly successful.

It was here in Madison that she met the love of her life, Rod Bina. According to legend, the first time she ever saw Rod, he was on-stage wearing tights. They quickly found that they shared a common history: They both grew up without a lot, went into the seminary/convent, and left because of a deep intellectual curiosity ... And then they got married and Coletta became stepmom to Rod's daughter, Kelly. The three of them had so much fun together, that they decided to add to the family. Sean was born a little over a year later. He was a few weeks late and tipped the scales at over 10 pounds. That was the last time he was ever fat or patient. Colette came next - a beautiful blonde baby girl. She was always destined to be a middle child, and a couple of years later Gabrielle was born. Precocious from the start, she was annoyingly good at everything.

And that was how the Bina Bunch was formed. They did a lot together, taking family trips, going camping, eating homemade dinners, and hanging with the wonderful Kenny family. Taking care of this brood was hard work and if you asked mom what she wanted for Christmas, she would say: "5 minutes of quiet." She was also famous for her mixed metaphors like "You are skating on thin eggs." Overall, she was an amazing parent: Always there, while giving her children the space and time to make their own mistakes, so that she could help fix them.

Forever curious and always looking to improve herself, she went back to school and got a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology. She put this to work as a Guidance Counselor and Department Chair at East High School and by helping all of her kids find their way to college. With no kids in the house, she and Rod traveled the world, taking memorable trips to Egypt, United Kingdom, and Spain. And after a couple of months, all of the kids came back and the girls brought home their future husbands, Matt Sidney and Ted Fondrk.

She and Rod never retired, but transitioned into being fulltime grandparents. They developed amazing relationships with all eight grandchildren: Lizzie, Nikki, Seamus, Ava, Alex, Esme, Petra, and Mila. As Rod's mom would say: "who named these kids?" Grandma Coletta loved reading, snuggling, baking, watching PBS, and puzzling with the grandkids. Being a mom / grandmother was so fundamental to who she was, it extended outside the immediate family to Jenny Bradley, Eric Maly, friends, her orchid babies, a long-line of big-goofy Golden Retrievers (Redford, Munson, Fergus, Finnegan, and Belle), and her students. And even with all of this, she found energy to nurture relationships, including with “the Ocho,” “Thelma and Louise,” and a book club that stuck together for 50 years.

She overcame multiple health scares along the way, including a near-fatal pulmonary embolism 18 years ago, so we are so happy that she was with us so long. She never wanted to live a diminished life, and she was still strong, loving, and bright until the day a fall took her from us.  

We love you, Mom!

If you are interested in making a donation to honor Coletta, please consider Second Harvest Foodbank.  

Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com.

Gunderson Fitchburg

Funeral & Cremation Care

2950 Chapel Valley Road

(608) 442-5002