Mary Collins

COLLINS, Mary Ann "Marie"

Marie Ann Collins, recently of Fredericksburg, Fairfax Station, and Richmond, Virginia, passed away peacefully on May 4, 2024, in Fredericksburg at the age of 100. Born in Malden, Massachusetts, on March 7, 1924, she left a mark on those she loved and who loved her. Her legacy is a testament to the importance of having a good heart and living a good life.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Colonel Arthur Edward Collins (USAR); her father, Redmond Francis Mahoney; and her mother, Catherine Louise Mahoney (nee Lavin). She is survived by her son, Arthur Edward Collins, Jr.; nephews, John Collins (Diane) and Paul Collins; nieces, Beth Collins Crosby and Anne Collins; grandnieces, Kaitlyn Collins, Leah Crosby Silipo (Andrew), Jessica Crosby Ternullo (Robert), Stephanie Phillion, and Jessica Phillion; grandnephews, Eric Collins, Joshua Phillion, and Brett Crosby (Claire); and many great-grandnieces and grandnephews.

She studied at Boston University and accompanied her husband on tours of duty in the United States, Europe, and Central America, including Bremerhaven, Germany; La Rochelle and Orleans, France; Managua, Nicaragua; the Canal Zone, Panama; Boston, Massachusetts; Augusta and Atlanta, Georgia; Leavenworth, Kansas; Monterey, California, and Washington, District of Columbia. In the 1940s, she worked for Fairfield and Ellis, Boston; the Department of the Army, Augusta; the American Dependents School, Bremerhaven; and in the 1950s, General Communications Corporation, Boston. She dedicated much time and passion to volunteering as an American Red Cross 'Gray Lady.' A lifelong advocate of equality, she chaired one of the first formal Federal recognitions of the life and accomplishment of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. She was also an amateur pianist, ceramist, and golfer. Her enduring love for animals was evident in her care for her pet dogs, Stroopie, Napoleon, Richelieu, Pixie Lee, Leitrim and Rossinver, and Roland and Maximilian.

She will be inurned with Colonel Collins at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, at a date to be determined.