Clifford "Ham" Collins Sr.
ANDERSON, COLLINS, DONALDSON, FOREMAN, HASTIE, LAMBERT, LATHRUM, MCCARTT, SPENCE
Posted By: Treva Patterson (email)
Date: 5/10/2006 at 14:17:05
Winterset Madisonian
Winterset, Iowa
Wednesday, January 22, 2003Clifford Collins Sr., St. Charles
Clifford "Ham" Collins Sr., 94, of St. Charles, died of heart and respiratory failure Jan. 20, 2003, at Winterset Care Center South.
Funeral services will be held at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 23, at Kale Funeral Home in Truro with the Rev. Sandy Smith officiating. Visitation will be held from noon until 8 p.m. today (Wednesday, Jan. 22) with the family present from 7-8 p.m. Burial will be at St. Charles Cemetery.
Ham Collins was born March 22, 1908, to Roy and Minnie (Spence) Collins of St. Marys. He attended St. Charles country school. In 1947, he married Louise McCartt. His career included house painter, farm worker, carpenter, trapper, hunter and foreman of an apple orchard. In 1992, Ham was selected as parade marshal for the Madison County Covered Bridge Festival. A United States Army veteran of World War II, he was a member of the St.Charles V.F.W.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife; two sister, Irene Hastie and Mary Anderson; three brothers, Willard Collins, Emil Collins and Dorwin Collins; and a stepson, Robert Donaldson.
He is survived by a son, Cliff Collins II of St. Charles; two stepdaughters, Martha Lambert of Moline, Ill., and Pat Lathrum of St. Charles; two stepsons, Ralph Noel of Norwalk and Jack Foreman of Oklahoma City, Okla.; two brothers, Eugene Collins of Woodland, Calif., and Russell Collins of Carson City, Neve.; 18 grandchildren; and several great-grandchildren.
_______________________The Osceola Tribune
Osceola, Iowa
Thursday, January 23, 2003
Page 3, Column 1Clifford "Ham" Collins Sr.
Clifford “Ham” Collins Sr., was born on March 22, 1908, at St. Marys to Roy and Minnie Spence Collins and died Jan. 20, 2003, at the Winterset Care Center South in Winterset. He was 94.
His mother died when he and his three siblings were very young. His father, a railroad section foreman, with the help of his Granny and later a second wife, Pearl, raised the childen in a stable home. It didn’t last long however. When he was 15 his father died. His stepmother had several young children to care for so the 15-year-old, was on his own.
He became a person to call when any job needed doing. He worked as a farm worker, hunter, trapper, carpenter and painter. During the Depression in the 1930s he rode the rails in search of work. During World War II Mr. Collins was in the U.S. Army and served in Europe and Africa.
He often said, “I’ve seen it all.” In 1947 he met and married Louise McCartt. She had five children from a previous marriage and they became the parents of a son, Clifford Jr.
He owned a small apple orchard and delivered the Sunday paper for many years. He enjoyed the outdoors.
Mr. Collins was a talented artist and painted beautiful local scenery, specializing in covered bridges. He was parade marshal for the Covered Bridge Festival at Winterset in 1992. He was a model for a local artist. His picture was published in Country Woman magazine and on the cover of the book, Be Careful What You Wish For.
Over the last few years his vision dimmed but not his memories. He loved to reminisce and share his stories of life in the early 20th century.
He was preceded in death by his wife; two sisters, Irene Hastie and Mary Anderson; three brothers, Willard, Emil and Dorwin Collins, a stepson, Robert Donaldson and two granddaughters.
Mr. Collins is survived by a son Cliff Collins II and his wife Cathie Collins of St. Charles; two stepdaughters, Martha Lambert of Moline, Ill. and Pat Lathrum and her husband, Johnnie Lathrum, of St. Charles; two stepsons, Ralph Noel and his wife, Marilyn Noel, of Norwalk and Jack Foreman and his wife Carolyn Foreman, of Oklahoma City, Okla.; 18 grandchildren; several great-grandchildren; two brothers, Eugene Collins of Woodland, Calif. and Russell Collins of Carson City, Nev.
Funeral services are today (Thursday) at 1:30 p.m. at Kale Funeral Home in Truro, the Rev. Sandy Smith officiating. Burial is in the St. Charles Cemetery.
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Madison Obituaries maintained by Linda Griffith Smith.
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