 5 william j collins 1886 1962  5 william j collins 1886 1962 ray sun 2282016 1228  william j collins william willie joseph collins  18861962 was born on 16 september 1886 in new orleans louisiana for 50 years he was associated with the firm of collins brothers contractors with his brother george t collins among the buildings the firm constructed are the new biloxi hospital hotel biloxi sacred heart academy howard ii school gorenflo school wachenfeld apartments barq building and st john s catholic church in gulfport he was a member of nativity bvm catholic church and active in the parish affairs he had been a director of the biloxi chamber of commerce was a charter member of west end fire department and been active in the knights of columbus and the biloxi rotary club and in other civic organizations  201 hopkins boulevard he resided at 201 hopkins boulevard biloxi mississippi hopkins street was named for dr hopkins and he had the first house across the street william would build a speculative house and they would live in it the back bedroom was called the dormitory for all the boys people used to want to come to the hopkins street house for meals mom was a good cook and so was alice alice worked for 20 21 years with the family she was livein help alice would fry chicken the boys would go through and sneak pieces mary would take oatmeal down to the pier in the morning and stay past lunchtime and get in trouble after their mother died mary would go to the butcher to get meat if it wasn t a good one alice would send her back for a better piece that met with alice s approval on sunday they used to have wine in ice tea glasses because all the wine glasses were broken by the boys lenny playing priest when mary went to school in new orleans st mary s dominican her friends would ask to come home with her the house was fun and five handsome brothers helped frank liked jazz and bill liked classical music  paul joe frank bill  the boys would have pillow fights in the dormitory when their parents were in the front yard and couldn t hear aunt mary would get a pair of big shoes and stomp down the hall trying to sound like a grownup as she got close it would quieten down one of the boys would listen at the door finally one of them would work up enough nerve to open the door and when they did they would find her standing there they would jerk her in and she would start screaming and hollering and mother would come running saying don t break her wrists don t break her fingers mary played the piano the family was interested in sports and sailing they built several boats they built one they called tar baby and it sank since they lived on the coast they had many friends who came to spend the winter there were two apartments in the house downstairs was built for dr snow the langley s would come from chicago to spend the winter they had an only child bobby but they liked the feeling of having family brothers and sisters for him she would buy him new clothes and he would request that she sew patches on them because all the collins boys had patches on their clothes and he didn t want to be different augustine gussie mary o connell the daughter of francis xavier o donnell and marie ichante was born on 22 april 1893 in new orleans louisiana she married william joseph collins on 10 july 1919 at st augustine church in new orleans louisiana she died on 3 october 1952 at the age of 59 mary remembers her mom walked to mass every morning one day she lost her engagement ring she was very distressed about noon a man came to our door and he had the ring he said it was found in front of his place of business pringle ford on the sidewalk decided that it must be hers because they opened at 600 and mass was at 630 and very few people walked at that hour of the morning they decided that they would approach her before putting an ad in the paper william died on 19 june 1962 at the age of 76 in the new biloxi hospital he was buried in the biloxi cemetery monsignor o connell spoke at daddy s funeral he studied the casket for a long time then he said there lies an honest man then he embellished that saying you always got your money s worth because the job would be done just so monsignor o connell had daddy had many differences of opinion daddy did all the work that was done for the church he did all the work for nativity bvm school the monsignor had someone else do the acoustical tile in the church once and sure enough it started falling off the ceiling one day in mass  william jr francis joseph paul leonard william sr augustine mary   paul bill william sr mary frank lenny joe   william j collins sr and augustine o donnell collins s children   william j collins jr   captain william joseph collins jr  19202012 civil engineer corps us naval reserve retired died on tuesday september 18 2012 in houston texas captain collins was born on september 9 1920 in new orleans to augustine o donnell and william j collins at the age of two his family moved to biloxi he graduated from sacred heart academy in 1938 attended perkinston jr college for one year and graduated from mississippi state college in 1942 with a bs degree in civil engineering he enlisted in the naval reserve and was assigned to midshipman school at the university of notre dame and was commissioned ensign in march of 1943 he was assigned to camp peary virginia for seabee training and to the 117th naval construction battalion when it was commissioned in september of 1943 after training at cbc gulfport the battalion was sent to oahu and then to saipan for duty construction of advanced naval bases he was released from active duty in february of 1946 in 1947 he was employed by harrison county to assist in engineering the sand beach in 1949 he was employed as city engineer for biloxi until recalled to active duty in may of 1952 and ordered to naas chase field beeville texas as resident officer in charge of construction on runways and airfield facilities upon release from active duty in 1954 he was employed as a civil engineer at cbc gulfport in 1956 he transferred to district public works office eighth naval district and subsequently was deputy director of new orleans branch of southern division naval facilities engineering command he retired in 1980 returned to the coast to design and build his home in gulf hills and then moved to houston in 2009 he was an awardwinning watercolorist and a charter member of the louisiana watercolor society he was a former member of numerous organizations including past president of biloxi jaycees knights of columbus st vincent de paul society past president of st alphonsus parish council past president of louisiana post society of military engineers naval league of new orleans west bank art society new orleans art association and mississippi society of professional engineers he was a volunteer at keesler medical center pharmacy for eight years and served as a lay eucharistic minister at st alphonsus church for many years captain collins was preceded in death by his parents wives  dorothy gates collins  19201998 and jane ross buck collins   19212005 the widow of george thad buck 19181993 son  william gates collins  19441986 daughter  evelyn lloyd collins  19531984    and twin brother francis x collins 19202000 survivors include a son  james e  joy  collins  of grants pass oregon two daughters  carolyn  robert  manley of ocean springs mississippi and toni collins  james  gosney of houston texas brothers joseph dot paul rose and leonard lucille sister mary collins dick wilson of dallas texas sisterinlaw rose mary collins grandchildren bob manley david manley michelle bloodsworth kati manley allison gosney jr collins and ethan collins greatgrandchildren dorothy grace bloodworth and sofie manley stepdaughters bonnie luft of ocean springs kathy o connor of biloxi beth hoffman of pensacola and tracey waddell of key west stepgrandchildren robert berry susan parker carlie hoffman thad delconte matthew delconte and virginia waddell and seven stepgreatgrandchildren visitation will be on saturday september 22 2012 from 10 am 11 am with an 11 am mass of christian burial all at st alphonsus catholic church burial will follow in southern memorial park with full military honors the ocean springs chapel of bradford o keefe funeral home is in charge of arrangements  francis x collins francis xavier collins  19202000 was born on 9 september 1920 at new orleans he died 2 august 2000 at his biloxi mississippi residence mr collins was a lifetime resident of biloxi he was a member of our lady of fatima catholic church in biloxi he was a member of the knights of columbus st james council and the st vincent de paul society he served as a captain in the us army during world war ii and in the mississippi national guard he was a member of the vfw american legion and mississippi city lions club he was the founding president of the home builders association of the mississippi gulf coast and of the home builders association of mississippi he was honored as the first inductee into the mississippi housing hall of fame the new office building of the gulf coast association was named in his honor he was a life national director and life spike of the national association of home builders and served as the chairman of the national training and education committee receiving the lifetime achievement award presented by the student chapters of the home builders institute along with his brother paul he developed and built the college park sherwood estates and turnkey iii subdivisions in gulfport and cedar lake subdivision in north biloxi he also developed and built several multifamily housing projects for the departments of hud and defense he was preceded in death by his parents william j collins and augustine o donnell collins mr collins is survived by his wife  rose mary gutierrez collins of biloxi two daughters and spouses  mary conn  clark of jackson mississippi and martha letard  dr thomas p of biloxi eight sons and spouses  frank r collins  lynette of kenner louisiana rev kevin a collins  omi of san antonio texas  timothy v collins  necia l quast of new delhi india  terry collins  tara of biloxi  john j collins  teresa of madison mississippi  mark j collins of biloxi t homas n collins  trisha of biloxi and patrick g collins  leslie of biloxi one sister mary wilson of dallas texas four brothers and spouses william j collins jr jane of ocean springs joseph o collins dot of biloxi paul j collins rose of biloxi and leonard a collins lucille of gulfport 20 grandchildren catie caroline and gracie conn rachel thomas patrick collin and meghan letard sarah billy julie and wendy collins ashley schulte and daniel collins michael matthew and stephen collins thomas n jr and cecilia collins and laurel and ellen collins visitation will be thursday aug 3 2000 at our lady of fatima catholic church friends may call from 6 pm until 8 pm with a wake service at 7 pm on friday aug 4 2000 at our lady of fatima catholic church mass will be held at 10 am friends may call one hour prior to service burial will be in biloxi city cemetery the pass road chapel of bradfordo keefe funeral home in biloxi is in charge of arrangements the sun herald august 3 2000  joseph o collins joseph o donnell collins  19212012 a lifelong biloxian died peacefully on october 21 2012 in the comfort of his home joseph was born to augustine o donnell collins and william j collins sr on december 29 1921 and graduated from sacred heart high school in 1939 he proudly served the united states as a navy seabee in the pacific theater in world war ii in 1954 he founded jo collins contractor inc following his grandfather father and brothers in the building profession he was later joined in his construction business by his sons charles and daniel and he served as the president of the company until his death as a builder he earned a reputation for honesty integrity and excellence he built many churches schools government medical and commercial buildings on the coast including our lady of fatima church where he was a devoted parishioner for many years he was especially proud of the restoration of fort massachusetts after hurricane camille and numerous restorations of local historical landmarks including the old spanish fort in pascagoula fort barrancas in pensacola the magnolia hotel the biloxi lighthouse the pleasant reed house and train depots in bay st louis ocean springs and pascagoula joseph was a charter member of the gulf coast chapter of the associated general contractors served a term as its president and was recently honored with its lifetime achievement award as a proud irishman he was a founding member of biloxi s hibernia marching society while he had many professional accomplishments the most important part of his life was wife children grandchildren friends and faith joseph was preceded in death by his mother and father his brothers francis x collins william j collins jr daughterinlaw francesca mathews collins brotherinlaw edmund d wilson and sistersinlaw dorothy gates collins and jane collins he is survived by dorothy martinolich collins  his devoted wife of sixtysix years his sons  joseph collins jr  and wife colleen  charles collins sr and wife debbie  daniel collins and wife terese and daughter deborah collins jones  joseph was especially proud of his twelve grandchildren emily collins orgler raymond allison collins kline clayton justin collins liza charles collins jr sarah nicholas collins kenneth jones ii leigh gregory collins laura collins benjamin collins kathryn collins austin collins and tiffany jones and his great grandchildren oliver collins clayton kline ii charles collins iii and sawyer collins joseph is also survived by his brothers paul j collins and wife rose leonard a collins and wife lucille sister mary collins wilson and sisterinlaw rosemary mrs francis x collins he also leaves behind many cousins nieces and nephews joseph s grandsons will proudly serve as his pallbearers visitation will be friday october 26th from 900am until 1100am followed by a mass of christian burial at our lady of fatima catholic church pass road biloxi and burial will follow at southern memorial park the howard avenue chapel of bradfordo keefe funeral home is in charge of arrangements the sun herald october 24 2012  dorothy adair martinolich dot collins  19252015 died peacefully at her home on july 19 2015 dorothy was born on march 27 1925 in handsboro to joseph dominic martinolich and inez delmas martinolich and was a proud graduate of the gulfport high school class of 1943 dorothy s first and most important vocation was as a wife to joseph her husband of 66 years and as a loving mother and example to her daughter and sons she was a devoted member of our lady of fatima parish where she served as a eucharistic minister a member of the altar society and a volunteer for the saint vincent de paul society after raising her children she attended college and enjoyed oil painting becoming an accomplished artist dorothy was preceded in death by her husband joseph o donnell collins sr her mother and father her sister margaret peranich her brother charles daughterinlaw francesca mathews collins brothersinlaws francis x collins william j collins jr paul j collins edmund d wilson louis gaddy and george peranich and sistersinlaw dorothy gates collins and jane collins the sun herald july 22 2015  paul john collins paul john collins  19232015 was born on 14 july 1923 in biloxi mississippi he graduated from sacred heart academy in biloxi in 1940 and attended mississippi state university he proudly served in the united states army in world war ii on june 4 1948 he founded collins building service with his brother frank following his grandfather father uncles and brothers in the building profession as a builder he earned a reputation for honesty integrity and excellence he built many homes and apartment complexes on the coast and subdivisions including college park and cedar lake paul was a charter member of the gulf coast chapter of the national home builders association served a term as its president and was recently honored with its lifetime achievement award he was a devoted parishioner of nativity bvm church for all his life where he was active in the knights of columbus the st vincent de paul society past president of parish council past president of the biloxi catholic school board the holy name society the serra vocation ministry and he served as a lay eucharistic minister at the church for many years in addition to those church activities he gave his time to a number of civic organizations including the kiwanis club the rotary club and serving as past president of the biloxi jaycees he received the 2004 lions club outstanding citizen award and the 2007 edgewater rotary club shining star award he volunteered his time and his sailboat to help boy scouts learn to sail at camp wilkes he had a strong sense of service to help those who were less fortunate he supported habitat for humanity both financially and with his construction supervision and labor he supported the st vincent de paul society s community pharmacy program he was also a hospice volunteer for many years with quality hospice receiving a volunteer of the year award paul set some records at sacred heart that have never been equaled he took a course in accounting it was supposed to take 6 weeks it was a summer crash course his teacher sister magdalene told mary his sister he completed it in 2 week he had a gift for common sense he played football very well he was very fast and even though he wasn t very big when they gave him the ball he could always find a hole and get through mary was fiercely proud of him when someone would remark about one of her brothers she would want to punch them she found out later they know this and would do it on purpose one time paul had the ball and made a long run and they said aw he s got lead in his feet and she got mad and turned around and balled him out paul is number 11 below while he had many professional accomplishments along with his faith the most important part of his life was family besides providing a loving home for his wife and children to grow up in he instituted the annual paul collins destin condo beach vacation for all his kids grandkids and greatgrandkids for his extended family he hosted the collins family reunions at his home for many years where relatives and friends from the corners of the world would flock annually to share in the collins family spirit even after katrina and the house destroyed the collins family spirit was kept alive he grew up just half a block from the beach near what is now the i110 loop and he loved sailing he some of his brothers and a friend had built a skate style sailboat which is how he met his future bride rose she took the train over from new orleans with her sister and accepted a sailboat ride from the handsome young man they had noticed earlier on walks past his hopkins street house when his children were old enough to sail he helped them build a sailboat and there have been sailboats in the family ever since here he is teaching his son richard in the ginger after all his children moved out and started families of their own he still enjoyed taking the ginger out on back bay he especially enjoyed the friendly rivalry when sailing regattas were incorporated with the family reunions and was very proud to have won the first place trophy in the y2k year 2000 collins regatta paul married rose marie chauvin on 2 june 1947 rose came from new orleans and would sit on the pier and when paul would come by she would say would you rent the sailboat would you take us for a ride and we ll pay you paul would say i ll take you for a ride but you don t have to pay me rose is an accomplished artist and sculptor they resided in the home that paul built on back bay at 1248 kensington drive until hurricane katrina destroyed it they have since rebuilt at the same location paul died on 18 march 2015 in biloxi mississippi he is donating his body for medical research but received a mass of christian burial on 28 march 2015 his ashes will be returned and interned in two years  paul and rose s children stephen steve francis collins was born on 10 july 1948 in biloxi mississippi  richard richie oliver collins was born on 14 august 1949 in biloxi mississippi  michael paul collins was born on 30 august 1951 in biloxi mississippi  donald eugene collins was born on 26 september 1952 in biloxi mississippi  lawrence larry phillip collins was born on 23 august 1956 in biloxi mississippi he died on 17 february 1967 in biloxi mississippi  gregory greg peter collins was born on 26 september 1958 in biloxi mississippi  virginia ginger rose collins was born on 19 april 1961 in biloxi mississippi  elizabeth ann collins was born on 15 october 1962 in biloxi mississippi she died on 17 february 1967 in biloxi mississippi at the age of 4 she died of spinal meningitis  glenn alan collins was born on 28 february 1966 in biloxi mississippi  obituary paul john collins  19232015 who lived in biloxi all his life died peacefully on march 18 2015 with the comfort of his loving family paul was born to augustine o donnell collins and william j collins sr on july 14 1923 he graduated from sacred heart academy in biloxi in 1940 and attended mississippi state university he proudly served in the united states army in world war ii on june 4 1948 paul founded collins building service with his brother frank following his grandfather father uncles and brothers in the building profession as a builder he earned a reputation for honesty integrity and excellence he built many homes and apartment complexes on the coast and subdivisions including college park and cedar lake paul was a charter member of the gulf coast chapter of the national home builders association served a term as its president and was recently honored with its lifetime achievement award paul was a devoted parishioner of nativity bvm church for all his life where he was active in the knights of columbus the st vincent de paul society past president of parish council past president of the biloxi catholic school board the holy name society the serra vocation ministry and he served as a lay eucharistic minister at the church for many years in addition to those church activities he gave his time to a number of civic organizations including the kiwanis club the rotary club and serving as past president of the biloxi jaycees he received the 2004 lions club outstanding citizen award and the 2007 edgewater rotary club shining star award he volunteered his time and his sailboat to help boy scouts learn to sail at camp wilkes he had a strong sense of service to help those who were less fortunate he supported habitat for humanity both financially and with his construction supervision and labor he supported the st vincent de paul society s community pharmacy program he was also a hospice volunteer for many years with quality hospice receiving a volunteer of the year award while he had many professional accomplishments along with his faith the most important part of his life was family besides providing a loving home for his wife and children to grow up in he instituted the annual paul collins destin condobeach vacation for all his kids grandkids and greatgrandkids for his extended family he hosted the collins family reunions at his home for many years where relatives and friends from the corners of the world would flock annually to share in the collins family spirit paul grew up just half a block from the beach near what is now the i110 loop and he loved sailing he some of his brothers and a friend had built a skate style sailboat which is how he met his future bride rose she took the train over from new orleans with her sister and accepted a sailboat ride from the handsome young man they had noticed earlier on walks past his hopkins street house when his children were old enough to sail he helped them build a sailboat and there have been sailboats in the family ever since after all his children moved out and started families of their own he still enjoyed taking the ginger out on back bay he especially enjoyed the friendly rivalry when sailing regattas were incorporated with the family reunions and was very proud to have won the first place trophy in the y2k year 2000 collins regatta paul was preceded in death by his mother and father his brothers william j collins jr francis x collins joseph o collins brotherinlaw edmund d wilson sistersinlaw dorothy gates collins and jane collins his daughter elizabeth ann his son lawrence phillip and his grandson zeke paul is survived by rose marie chauvin collins  his devoted wife of sixtyeight years his children  stephen f  coco  collins  of ocean springs mississippi  richard o  lisa  collins  of valrico florida  michael p  charliene  collins of ocean springs  donald e  patricia  collins of biloxi mississippi  gregory p  frances  collins of new orleans  virginia r collins  ronald clarke of biloxi  glenn a  susan  collins of biloxi mississippi and daughterinlaw jackie larry of arkansas paul was especially proud of his grandchildren anne balderston jennifer kotar lydia lillian christy lebatard kimberly pevey jed gregory jerin jonathan sam collie and eli and his nine great grandchildren jacob jared justin william wesley gracie claire parker and vivian paul is also survived by his sister mary collins wilson brother leonard a collins and wife lucille sisterinlaw rosemary mrs francis x collins and sisterinlaw dot mrs jo collins he also leaves behind many cousins nieces and nephews paul is donating his body for medical research but a memorial service will be on saturday march 28th at nativity bvm cathedral biloxi visitation with the family will be from 900 to 1100 am followed by a mass of christian burial the howard avenue chapel of bradfordo keefe funeral home is in charge of arrangements the sun herald march 22 2015  mary i collins mary ichante collins was born on 2 september 1926 at biloxi she attended sacred heart academy at biloxi and was a june 1946 graduate in secretarial science from st mary s dominican college at new orleans while at her sacred heart academy graduation on may 28 1944 mary was recognized with the following honors miss sacred heart academy outstanding sodalists highest mark on religion test outstanding speller highest average in bookkeeping 150 words in shorthand typing 70 words per minute and the bookkeeping diploma the daily herald may 26 1944 p 7 while at dominican college miss collins was class treasurer for two years secretary of beta epsilon the commercial club and a member of the theta pi sorority the daily herald june 8 1946 p 4 mary married edmund dixon dick wilson 19221980 in nativity bvm catholic church on april 25 1953 with the reverend john scanlon officiating mr wilson was a native of conway arkansas born on june 6 1922 to mr and mrs roy wilson he was a graduate of el dorado high school the daily herald april 27 1953 p 15 and harrison co mississippi chancery court mrb 93 p 118 on october 301942 dick wilson enlisted for military service with the army air corps ground forces as a staff sergeant he served with the 8th air force during ww ii in england until his discharge in october 1945 dick entered hendrix college after working for chicago southern later delta airlines in jackson mississippi until may 1946 he graduated from arkansas polytechnic college in 1950 and worked for arkansas power light co in pine bluff for three months until he joined the newly formed midsouth gas company as district manager of the midsouth gas company and a resident of forrest city arkansas his district covered forrest city wynne brinkley wheatley cotton plant palestine colt and caldwell arkansas at forrest city dick and mary were members of the catholic church and he was a member of the chamber of commerce rotary club the kingbeazley american legion post and the young business men s club mr wilson died on october 2 1980 and his corporal remains were interred in the biloxi cemetery at biloxi mississippi the timesherald forrest city arkansas october 1980  leonard a collins leonard a collins leonard aloysius collins  19302016 was born in biloxi mississippi on october 23 1930 and died peacefully on thursday january 28 2016 surrounded by his family he was preceded in death by his parents william j collins sr and augustine o donnell collins his brothers and their wives william j collins jr dorothy francis x collins joseph o collins dorothy and paul j collins 19232015 leonard is survived by his wife of 58 years  lucille lobianco collins and his children  karen redd  eddy  linda collins   kenneth collins   patricia mangrum  michael and nancy butts  michael he was the proud grandfather to six grandchildren annie redd william redd matthew mangrum benjamin mangrum thomas mangrum and riley collins he is also survived by his sister mary collins wilson and sisterinlaws rosemary collins mrs francis x and rose collins mrs paul j leonard was born and raised in biloxi mississippi he graduated from notre dame high school and then attended louisiana state university where he received a degree in architectural engineering after earning his registration as an architect in 1955 he entered the united states air force where he served as a commissioned officer he started his career as an architect in baton rouge in 1961 he moved to biloxi and joined his uncle john t collins in the practice of architecture the firm merged into the firm of guildhardy architects in 1998 where leonard remained as a consultant until 2011 during his career he designed many buildings along the gulf coast one of the projects closest to his heart was st james elementary school where all five of his children attended he was an active member of st james parish serving as president of the st james catholic church parish council he was a strong believer in catholic education and served on the st james catholic school pto the st john high school home school association and diocese of biloxi school board leonard was president of the united way organization and served as general campaign chairman for harrison county in 1977 he also served on the board of directors of goodwill industries of south mississippi he was active in the knights of columbus 4th degree he was a member of biloxi rotary club biloxi chamber of commerce diocese of biloxi building and real estate committee and the mississippi gulf coast section of the american institute of architects along with his faith the most important part of his life was his family he enjoyed spending time with his wife children and grandchildren especially during their annual summer beach vacations he will be deeply miss the mass of christian burial will be monday february 1 2016 at 1100 am at st james catholic church gulfport where friends may visit beginning at 930 am interment will follow at biloxi city cemetery biloxi bradfordo keefe funeral home 15th street gulfport is in charge of arrangements the sun herald leonard a collins january 30 2016 references the sun herald   william j collins   september 20 2012 p a4 the sun herald   joseph o donnell collins sr   october 24 2012 the sun herald   paul j collins   march 22 2015 the sun herald   dorothy m collins   july 22 2015 the sun herald   leonard a collins   january 30 2016 488 views  