Gary Collins

1951 - 2017

Gary Collins was born August 15, 1951 to Arthur and Catherine Collins. He is the oldest of six siblings. Although his entire family were members of The Lutheran Church of St. John the Evangelist; all of them were communed and confirmed, it was Gary who proved to be the most active of his brothers and sisters, serving as an
acolyte in St. John's Order of St. Samuel, and involved in several religiously based youth groups and summer camps.

A native of Brooklyn, Gary spent his child, teenage and the better of his adult life as a resident of the Williamsburg Houses. A popular member of his community, Gary was known for both his athletic prowess as a basketball player and coach of local tournaments, as well as for his sultry tenor voice and ability to croon on the corner
with the best of them. He also learned and became an ample conga player and performed throughout the 5 boroughs with an afro-centric drumming troupe, Umoja, at the height of the Black Power movement in the late sixties. Witty, wise and opinionated, he loved having a good debate, and equally enjoyed sharing his
counsel with both young and the old, about the benefits of looking on the bright side of life and of not playing the victim. To all who knew him, Gary was a kind, compassionate and confident man whose laughter was unmistakable and infectious. In 1979 he met Linda Freeman who would become his wife a year later. Shortly after, they moved to Harlem and welcomed into the world, their first and only child, Wayne Collins who was the greatest love of his life.

During the next 30 years he would hold a variety of jobs in different fields until his bout with a long and physically debilitating illness morphed into his having multiple health issues and complications.
Gary is preceded in death by his parents Arthur & Catherine Collins, and his sisters Deborah and Dinah. He leaves to mourn his son Wayne, brothers: Douglas and Donald, his sister Nina, Aunt Alby, nephews: Charles, Richard, Dante and Kareem, nieces: Michelle, lasha, and Barbara, grandsons: Julian and Josiah, brother-in-law
Tyrone, sister-in-law Sheila and a host of beloved relatives, church family and friends.