Burial Date
Obituaries » DONALD O. COLLINS
COLLINS, DONALD O., 90, of Barre, died peacefully on September 15, at Woodridge Nursing Home. He was born June 11, 1923, in Johnson, the son of Chellis H. Collins and Margery (Ober) Collins. He attended Burlington High School and was stationed at Iwo Jima with the U.S. Army during World War II, before graduating from Boston University in 1947. On May 18, 1946, he married Alice M. Goodwin at the church where they had met, Wollaston Baptist Church in Wollaston, Mass. Mrs. Collins predeceased him on Dec. 5, 2012. With his father and sister, Donald was the co-owner of Chellis H. Collins Home Furnishings, “The Old Red Farmhouse,” on the Barre-Montpelier Road. Donald was a longtime Rotarian and enjoyed tennis, photography and summering at the family camp at Lake Groton. He was an avid gardener and loved giving tomato plants to everyone he met. A man of deep faith, Donald was a member of the Barre Congregational Church, where he was a vocalist in the choir and a member of the Co-Ads group. He was also a frequent visitor to The Old Meeting House Church in East Montpelier Center and First Baptist Church in Groton. Survivors include his four daughters: Judith Jones and husband, Stephen, of Florida; Louise “Lui” Collins, of Massachusetts; Diane Gage and husband, Leland, of Pennsylvania; and Margery “Marnie” Grow Johnk and husband, Keith, of Iowa. He is also survived by eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his wife, parents, brother and sister.
