William J. Collins

Mr. William J. Collins, Jr. Captain, Civil Engineer Corps U.S. Naval Reserve, Retired, died on Tuesday, September 18, 2012, in Houston, TX. Captain Collins was born on September 9, 1920, in New Orleans, LA to Augustine O'Donnell and William J. Collins. At the age of two his family moved to Biloxi. He graduated from Sacred Heart Academy in 1938, attended Perkinston Jr. College for one year and graduated from Mississippi State College in 1942 with a BS Degree in Civil Engineering. He enlisted in the Naval Reserve and was assigned to Midshipman School at the University of Notre Dame and was commissioned Ensign in March of 1943. He was assigned to Camp PearyVA for Seabee training and to the 117th Naval Construction Battalion when it was commissioned in September of 1943. After training at CBC Gulfport the battalion was sent to Oahu and then to Saipan for duty construction of advanced naval bases. He was released from active duty in February of 1946. In 1947 he was employed by Harrison County to assist in engineering the sand beach. In 1949 he was employed as City Engineer for Biloxi until recalled to active duty in May of 1952 and ordered to NAAS Chase Field, Beeville TX as Resident Officer in charge of Construction on runways and airfield facilities. Upon release from active duty in 1954 he was employed as a civil engineer at CBC Gulfport. In 1956 he transferred to District Public Works Office, Eighth Naval District and subsequently was Deputy Director of New Orleans Branch of Southern Division, Naval Facilities Engineering Command. He retired in 1980, returned to the Coast to design and build his home in Gulf Hills and then moved to Houston in 2009. He was an award-winning watercolorist and a charter member of the Louisiana Watercolor Society. He was a former member of numerous organizations including past president of Biloxi Jaycees, Knights of Columbus, St. Vincent de Paul Society, Past president of St. Alphonsus Parish Council, Past president of Louisiana Post Society of Military Engineers, Naval League of New Orleans, West Bank Art Society, New Orleans Art Association and Mississippi Society of Professional Engineers. He was a volunteer at Keesler Medical Center Pharmacy for eight years and served as a lay Eucharistic Minister at St. Alphonsus Church for many years. Captain Collins was preceded in death by his parents, wives, Dorothy Gates Collins and Jane Buck Collins, son, William G. Collins, daughter, Evelyn Lloyd Collins and twin brother, Francis X. Collins. Survivors include a son, James E. (Joy) Collins, of Grants Pass, OR, two daughters, Carolyn (Robert) Manley of Ocean Springs, MS and Toni Collins (James) Gosney of Houston, TX, brothers, Joseph (Dot), Paul (Rose) and Leonard (Lucille), sister, Mary Collins (Dick) Wilson of Dallas, TX, sister-in-law, Rose Mary Collins, grandchildren, Bob Manley, David Manley, Michelle Bloodsworth, Kati Manley, Allison Gosney, "J.R." Collins and Ethan Collins, great-grandchildren, Dorothy Grace Bloodworth and Sofie Manley, step-daughters, Bonnie Luft of Ocean Springs, Kathy O'Connor of Biloxi, Beth Hoffman of Pensacola, and Tracey Waddell of Key West, step-grandchildren, Robert Berry, Susan Parker, Carlie Hoffman, Thad DelConte, Matthew DelConte and Virginia Waddell and seven step-great-grandchildren. Visitation will be on Saturday, September 22, 2012, from 10 am ~ 11 am, with an 11 am Mass of Christian Burial, all at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church. Burial will follow in Southern Memorial Park with full military honors. In lieu of flowers the family prefers donations be made to St. Vincent dePaul Community Pharmacy, P.O. Box 1228, Biloxi, MS 39533 or to the charity of your choice. The Ocean Springs Chapel of Bradford O'Keefe Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.