Brute force approach...
try:
Public Function GetColumnAddr(ByVal cellAddr As String, ByVal keepAbs As Boolean) As String
Dim idx As Long
Dim str As String
Dim curChar As String
If cellAddr = "" Then
GetColumnAddr = ""
Exit Function
End If
idx = 1
str = "" ' not necessary but ...
If Left(cellAddr, 1) = "$" Then
idx = 2
if keepAbs then str = "$"
End If
curChar = Mid(cellAddr, idx, 1)
While (Not IsNumeric(curChar)) And (curChar <> "$")
str = str & curChar
idx = idx + 1
curChar = Mid(cellAddr, idx, 1)
Wend
GetColumnAddr = str
End Function