Gerald “Jerry” Collins was the last born to Clarence Collins and Johnnie Mae Solomon-Collins on May 18, 1939 in Akron, Ohio.

He was affectionately known to his family as Snow Man, the Cosby Dad, and Poppy. He loved his family, music and singing, playing the clarinet and sax, and sports.

Jerry attended Bryan Elementary School and West Jr. High, where he was class president. During junior and senior high school, he was a gung-ho member of the trio The Slippy Gents. The trio played at various high school dances, where some say all the songs sounded alike.

Jerry graduated from Central High School, where he was elected Senior Class President. He was a member of the National Honor Society and was named Youth of the Year by the Frontiers Club in 1957.   In additional to his many academic achievements, Jerry also excelled as an athlete in football and track and field.

He attended the College of Wooster, where he was one of the best defensive backs in the Ohio Athletic Conference.  Following his senior year, he was named All-OAC as well as All-Ohio, and was selected to play in the Midwest Region’s Gem All Star Bowl.  Later that same year, he received the Manges Prize as Wooster’s top senior athlete.   When he wasn’t playing football, he excelled in track and field as an extremely talented sprinter and key member of the Scots’ mile relay team.  He also ran the quarter mile and competed in the broad and high jumps.   He was a member of Phi Delta Sigma fraternity and was inducted into the College of Wooster Hall of Fame in 1989.

But Jerry clearly had the brains to go with all that brawn. He graduated from Wooster College with a degree in Chemistry and started his career working for Goodyear Tire and Rubber as a chemist.  He went on to successful positions at Shell Oil, Johnsons Products, where he won numerous national awards, and Avon.   He then moved on to Hallmark Cards where he eventually became Director of Merchandise Marketing at their headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri.

When he retired from Hallmark, he started his own innovative marketing company called Collins Consortium, Inc

Throughout his career, Jerry was always very community minded and served on the board of directors of several organizations around Kansas City, including Junior Achievement from 1996 – 2000 and the Truman Medical Center Behavior Health Network Trust where he chaired several committees and was the board president.  He also received the Philanthropic Award in 1999. 

He was a former member of Wesley Temple Church, where he was the president of the Youth Group, director of the Youth Choir, and a Sunday school teacher.

Jerry is survived by his loving wife Geraldine “Jeri” Collins and his three wonderful daughters, Tracee Fayne and her husband Fred of Los Angeles, California; Debra Collins of Largo, Florida; Kathleen Cohen and her husband Craig of Voorhees, New Jersey; and his extraordinary grandson Michael Cohen. 

He is also survived by sisters Dorothy Williams and Dolores Nolan, brother Clarence Collins Jr. and wife Kitty and a host of cousins, nephews, nieces, and many loving relatives and friends.

QUOTES

PROVERBS CHAPTER 3 VERSES 5 AND 6 – TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL THINE HEART AND LEAN NOT UNTO THINE OWN UNDERSTANDING, IN ALL THY WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM AND HE SHALL DIRECT THY PATH.

PROVERBS CHAPTER 3 VERSE 13 - HAPPIEST IS THE MAN THAT FINDETH WISDOM AND THE MAN THAT GETTETH UNDERSTANDING

We believe the verse from Proverbs chapter 3, verses 5 and 6, was given to Jerry by a mentor and he took it to heart.  He followed his heart and he followed his dreams with an open and positive attitude.  The glass was always half full for him – and if we take anything from his life, it’s that if we strive for excellence, anything is possible.  He will be greatly missed by so many.

We love you Daddy,

Tracee, Debbie, Kathi