Charles W. "Chuck" Collins 1915-2002

ALGER, COLLINS, SWANSON

Posted By: Connie Swearingen-Volunteer (email)
Date: 1/27/2013 at 20:33:53

Charles W. "Chuck" Collins, 86, of Sioux City died Friday, March 1, 2002, at a Sioux City hospital following a brief illness.

Services will be 1 p.m. Tuesday at St. Luke Lutheran Church with the Rev. Krishen Persaud officiating. Burial will be in Graceland Park Cemetery. Visitation will be 4 to 8 p.m. today, with family present 6 to 8 p.m. and a Masonic Service by Morningside Lodge 615 A.F. & At.M. at 7 p.m., at Nelson-Berger Morningside Chapel. Mr. Collins was born Oct. 10, 1915, in Cereal, Alberta, Canada, the son of John A. and Laurel (Alger) Collins. He moved to Kingsley, Iowa in 1922 and attended Kingsley schools, graduating from Kingsley High School.

He moved to Sioux City in 1939 and was employed with K.D. Baxter Company until 1941, when he began serving in the U.S. Air Force during World War II. He was a life member of the 388th Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force. He received the Bronze Medal. He was discharged in 1945 and returned to Sioux City, where he helped found Refrigeration Engineering Inc., a company he later owned and operated until 1983 when he retired.

He married Frances Swanson on. Aug. 19, 1942, in Boise, Idaho.

He was a member of St. Luke Lutheran Church, where he served on the church council, the church stewardship committee and the foundation board. He was a 50 year member of Morningside Lodge 615 A.F. & A.M., a 50 year member of the Sioux City Consistory and a 50 year member of the Abu Bekr Shrine. He was a past president of the Sahib unit. He was a member of the High Twelve Founders Club 1.

He ehjoyed spending time with his family, traveling and fishing.

Survivors include his wife: two daughters, Pat and her husband, Ed Westbrook of Sergeant Bluff, and Carol Schneider of Phoenix, Ariz.; a brother and his wife, Don A. and Gladys Collins of Le Mars, Iowa; four grandchildren, Kelly Schneider and her fiance, Johan Karlsen, Clint Schneider, Debi Copple and her husband, Mark, and Don Westbrook and his wife, Debbie; four great-grandchildren, Michael Ann Copple, Don Westbrook Jr. Joshua and Justin Westbrook; a niece; and six nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents and a brother, John Iliff Collins.

Memorials in his name may be directed to St. Luke Lutheran Church Memorial Fund, Hospice of Siouxland, or the Abu Bekr Shrine Children's Transportation Fund.