John Thomas Collins

John T Collins, age 93, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, March 31, 2021 with family and friends by his side at the Wyngate at RiversEdge in Proctorville, OH.  He was born on January 30, 1928 in Acme, WV and was the son of the late Luther Collins and Nellie Reynolds Collins. He was preceded in death by his lovely wife Anna Ruth Jackson Collins and his only sister Justine Collins Heysel.  John leaves behind his devoted daughter Colletta “Rosie” Watkins Collins, his only son John (Carol) Collins, a step daughter, three grandchildren, one step grandchild and four step great grandchildren. Johns life was filled with many exciting adventures and had he wrote a book it would have been a best seller that would include some of his most talked about memories: Growing up on 14  Street West with his bootlegging grandmother “Maw Collins”, jumping over cars and making money for it, his love of all things art, his prize winning tomatoes, his Huntington High School track records (5 firsts in one meet),  his love of dancing (winning the 2012 Tri State Dancing with the Stars at the age of 85), his four year scholarship for track to WVU, his time in the Navy (Korean War) after being drafted and having to leave WVU, working as a post man and helping draft Huntington’s first zip codes, becoming a captain in the Huntington fire department and achieving his BS degree in education from MU while working as a firefighter, becoming a Mason (33 degree) and driving a Cabell County school bus. John was a larger than life character and will certainly be missed. Funeral services will be held at Reger Funeral Chapel at 1:00 pm on Wednesday, April, 7, 2021 with the burial at Woodmere Memorial Park. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service. Social distancing and masks are required. www.regerfh.com .