Katherine E. Collins

Katherine Collins Obituary

GRANITEVILLE - Katherine E. Collins, 82, of Quarry Hill Apartments passed away Sunday, July 26, 2009, at the Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington.

Born in Montpelier on July 19, 1927, she was the daughter of the late Donald and Elnora (Currier) Freeman.

She attended Montpelier Schools and was a graduate of St. Michael's High School, salutatorian of her class of 1944. After graduation she worked at National Life Insurance Co. She later was employed for 32 years as a legal secretary for John Bernasconi's law office, retiring in 1992.

In 1948, she married Harry Collins. They later divorced.

Katherine was an active volunteer for R.S.V.P., Woodridge Nursing Home and the Barre Food Bank. Among her interests were puzzles, and playing cards with family and friends. She was an avid Red Sox fan. She was also secretary for the Quarry Hill Apartments.

She was a loving mother and loved spending precious time with her family and especially her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

She was a member of St. Sylvester's Catholic Church of Graniteville.

Survivors include two sons, Jack Collins and his wife Alyce of E. Montpelier, and Jim Collins of Barre; daughter-in-law, Cindy Collins of So. Barre; one brother, Wilbur Freeman of Montpelier; and one sister, Genevieve Potter of White River. She is also survived by four grandchildren, Tracy Collins and Matthew Collins both of Berlin, Tim Collins of Boston, Mass., and Erin Murphy of Colchester; three great-grandchildren, Isabel Taylor, Tucker Collins and Gavin Murphy; as well as several nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by one daughter, Stephanie Collins, and one brother, William Freeman.

A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated on Thursday, July 30, 2009, at 1 p.m. at St. Monica Catholic Church in Barre. There are no calling hours.

Burial will be at Green Mount Cemetery in Montpelier.

Arrangements are in the care of the Pruneau-Polli Funeral Home, 58 Summer St., Barre.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by Times Argus from Jul. 28 to Jul. 29, 2009.

Memories and Condolences
for Katherine Collins

5 Entries

August 3, 2009

"Kitty was always a lovely and kind Aunt to me...I will miss her" Love, Judy

Nancy Groeger

July 29, 2009

May your hearts soon be filled with wonderful memories of joyful times together as you celebrate a life well lived.

Robert Cerro

July 29, 2009

Our heartfelt condolences are extended to the many friends and family of dear Kitty. Her kindness, vitality, spunk and uplifting disposition will be missed by all of us. I remember when I was a kid, visiting in Montpelier, Kitty would always give me a dollar to go down to the corner store to buy myself some "pop" as she called it. Then, when I'd finish the soda - my first taste of Fresca, which I thought was some exotic Vermont drink - she'd give me another buck, and tell me to go back down with the empty cans, to get a nickel back on them, and buy myself a couple of more. She made it into an adventure that only a child would appreciate. But that was her style and her own brand of generosity. She went out of her way at all times, trying to make the people around her feel special.

She was the same way when I got older. Knowing that I was looking to find somebody special in my own life, she kept telling me that there was this pretty nurse she knew in Barre named Michelle, someone she thought I'd get along with real well. She wanted to get the two of us together. She even went so far as to get her telephone number for me, and kept nagging me to call her on one of my trips up. When I hesitated, she said that she told her friend all about "this guy from New York who was a devoted family man and all." (Hindsight is 20-20, of course. Just at that moment I starting seeing the person who would eventually become my former spouse. Maybe I should have paid more attention to Kitty's matchmaking skills!)

But that was Kitty's way, acting straightforwardly as a matchmaker, simply because she knew two people she genuinely cared about, and thought might be good together. She was, of course, a very good judge of character, possessing such an impeccable character herself. And a quiet, yet sometimes outspoken kind of wisdom. When I initially told her I didn't think I'd have the time to date, caring for a couple of elderly people in my life at the time, she suddenly got all serious with me, and told me that I had to think of myself sometimes, too. That was Kitty's wisdom. Once in a while, she'd find a way to remind you that life is a gift, and that you had to grab it, and make it your own.

What a classy lady. I'll miss her. And so will my niece, Nicole, on whom Kitty doted.

May God bless her in his Kingdom, and we thank him for her time on Earth.

With Love...

Robert Cerro, on behalf of the Cerro Family in New York.

July 29, 2009

Katherine #1 - I will miss you. Love, Katherine #2

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