Gertrude F. Collins, 97, of Rock Island, died Thursday, June 15, 2017 at Bickford Cottage, Moline. Services will be 10 a.m. Tuesday at Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church, Rock Island. Visitation will be from 4-6 p.m. Monday at Wheelan-Pressly Funeral Home and Crematory, Rock Island. Burial will be at Memorial Park Cemetery, Rock Island.
Memorials may be left in care of the QC Animal Welfare Center or Augustana College.
Gertrude was born in Rock Island on December 5, 1919, the daughter of Gabriel and Freda Heber. She attended public schools in Rock Island. Gertrude graduated from Augustana College in 1941 with a degree in accounting and subsequently accepted a position as a cost accountant with Eagle Signal Corporation in its Moline office.
Gertrude married James Everett Collins, of Silvis, on July 2, 1943 at the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, Texas where he was serving in the United States Marine Corps. While Captain Collins was active in the military the couple also resided in Quantico, Virginia and Cherry Point USMCAS, North Carolina. Everett was killed January 18, 1951 piloting a F4U Corsair while serving with Marine fighter squadron VMF225 on the aircraft carrier USS Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Upon her husband’s death, Gertrude returned to the Quad Cities where she was employed as a kindergarten teacher from 1952 to1978 initially at Blackhawk School on Big Island and then at Hawthorne-Irving School, Rock Island.
Gertrude was a member of Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church, Rock Island, the Illinois Retired Teachers Association, Blackhawk Chapter, and Chi Omega Gamma sorority at Augustana College.
She enjoyed antiques and loved traveling to spend time with her grandchildren.
Those left to cherish her memory include her children, Patricia A. Andersen, Moline and James M. (Cynthia) Collins, Ester, Alaska; grandchildren, Scott (Theresa) Andersen, Chandra (Jeffrey) Borland, John (Tracy) Andersen, Heather (Charles) Bishop and James E. (Annette) Collins II; and great-grandchildren, Madison, Lauren, Savannah and Charlotte Andersen; Annabelle and Nathaniel Bishop; and Olivia, Zoie, James and Finley Collins.
She was preceded in death by her husband and parents.
Service Information
A service summary is not available
