Meet NHL legend Gordie Howe's late wife Colleen and their four children – including his two sons who followed in his footsteps

Gordie met Colleen at a bowling alley in Detroit in 1950 and they married just a few years later on 15 April 1953. The pair spent 56 years together, during which Colleen became the first female sports agent while managing her husband’s business affairs. Collen died aged 76 in 2009 after a year-long battle with Pick’s Disease, a neurological disorder that causes severe dementia. 

In an interview the same year as her passing, Howe recalled to the Vancouver Sun meeting Colleen for the first time. “She was one of the prettiest things I’d ever seen,” he reminisced. “Everyone kept telling me that when the right one came along it would hit you right between the eyes. Well, I got hit.”

Gordie’s eldest son Marty followed his father’s footsteps into professional hockey, with the pair becoming the only father-son duo to ever play in the NHL during the 1979-1980 season with the Hartford Whalers. 

Gordie wasn’t the only family member he played alongside. Marty, and his younger brother Mark were famously teammates for seven seasons across both the WHA and the NHL. Across a career that lasted for 12 seasons, Marty racked up a combined 646 appearances across the WHA and the NHL. 

Marty lives in Glastonbury, Connecticut with his wife Mary. They pay tribute to Gordie with an eight-foot-tall number 9 attached year-round to their home of over forty years. His father’s player number formed the centrepiece for an impressive Christmas display in 2020. “I shine it through Christmas and on his birthday,” Marty explained. “Any time I’m thinking about him, I can plug it in. If I turned it on every time there was a milestone date for Gordie, I'd burn out the bulbs.”

Gordie’s second son Mark also seemed destined for the rink. At just 16, Mark played at the 1972 Olympics in Japan where the US hockey team won silver. This was the start of an impressive legacy with the NHL, registering 197 goals and 545 assists across his career as well as being named an NHL All-Star four times. Mark retired in 1995 and worked as a scout for the Red Wings until 2021. He joined his father in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2011.

Mark married his first wife Ginger in 1977, with whom he had three children. The couple divorced 28 years later, and Mark has since remarried his long-term partner, Sharon. The ex-Red Wings scout’s son Travis Howe is continuing the family legacy in his work with NHL Breakaway as a highlight curator and NHL historian. 

Unlike his two older brothers, Murray didn’t end up on the rink. Instead, he’s found success as the head of Sports Medicine Imaging for Toledo Radiological Associates and ProMedica Health System’s Sports Care program. But he’s not stepped entirely away from the Howe family legacy, building 40 years of experience as a keynote speaker on sports medicine and – of course – hockey. 

Murray recounted the emotional journey following his father’s passing in his 2017 memoir Nine Lessons I Learned From My Father, an intimate account of all that lies behind the legacy of his father, Gordie. 

Gordie’s only daughter provided care for the player during his final years at her home in Lubbock, Texas where she lives with her husband Bob. During this time, Cathy kept fans updated on his recovery as the player suffered multiple strokes. In 2014, she confirmed his condition to ESPN.com, saying “He’s a tough old bird. His spirits are high. I watched him play hockey a lot of years and this is the biggest fight he’s ever had. He’s working hard to get through it and I’m proud of him.”