Gary Collins

Gary Collins died March 5. He was 65.

Collins was born on Aug. 11, 1949, in Oakland, California. He began his career in Alameda at the Naval Aviation Depot (NADEP Alameda) in 1968 as a maintenance electrician apprentice. He worked as a journeyman electrician in various buildings throughout the base until he retired in February 1996. He then worked as an electrician at United Airlines in San Francisco for six years and then in Livermore at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for 10 years until he retired in April 2012. 

When Collins worked at United Airlines he took advantage of the flying benefits and he and some of his friends saw games at several baseball stadiums all over the country. One of his greatest trips was to the East Coast in the summer of 2001 when they saw the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles play.

He was very happy and enjoyed retirement. He played golf at the Tracy Country Club almost every day until he moved to Texas in July 2014 with his wife of 37 years, Linda. They moved to Sun City in October 2014 so they could be close to their daughter and son-in-law, Erin and Leo, who live in Kempner.

He was not a big man, but he was a great one. He was very intelligent and could fix anything. He never had anything bad to say about anyone. He made friends easily and was happy with his new pals at Sun City.

Collins enjoyed sports and coached every year that his son, Danny, participated in little league, soccer and basketball. He was a fan of the Oakland A's, the Oakland Raiders and the San Jose Sharks. He loved music, especially rock ‘n roll. His favorite bands were The Eagles, Foreigner and Styx. He showed an interest in country music the last few years and he enjoyed songs by The Band Perry, Lady Antebellum, The Zach Brown Band and Mumford & Sons.

Collins is survived by his wife, Linda; children, Danny and Erin; son-in-law, Leo; his brothers, John, Jim and Mike; many nieces and nephews, many cousins and many dear friends.

A celebration of his life will be Tuesday, March 17, (St. Patrick's Day) at 10 a.m. at the Ramsey Funeral Home, 5600 Williams Drive, Georgetown, Texas 78633.