William Collins, Sr.

William Nelms "Bill" Collins passed away peacefully at home in his favorite chair watching sports on Monday, March 6, 2017.\r\n \r\nBill was a fourth-generation Texan who grew up in Houston attending Poe Elementary and Lanier Middle School, followed by Phillips Exeter Academy and Rice University. \r\n \r\nWhile attending Rice University as a Chemical Engineering major, Bill formed many lifelong friendships, including the most important one of his life. During his final year at Rice he met Mary Anne Mewhinney, the love of his life. \r\n \r\nBill and Mary Anne's early married years were spent in Dallas where Bill worked for Proctor and Gamble, before moving to Eagle Pass to work for his father's barite mining and import company. In Eagle Pass, witty and fun-loving Bill and Mary Anne once again formed friendships that would last a lifetime. After moving to Houston in 1962, Bill and Mary Anne reunited every Christmas with Eagle Pass friends and a gaggle of kids in Port Aransas for poker games, tennis, boiled shrimp, bonfires, and driving lessons on the beach. \r\n \r\nIn Houston, Bill worked at J T Thorpe until retiring to move to Hunt, Texas in 1985. His outside interests included arranging reunions as the permanent president of his Rice class and serving on the Board of Directors for the Rice Alumni Association. Bill was very involved in his children's AAU swimming meets and coaching little league baseball. Some of his happiest Houston memories were of playing basketball on Wednesday nights at Kinkaid, where one of his pick-up games included Rockets Rudy Tomjanovich, Mike Newlin and Dave Wohl. \r\n \r\nBill spoke Spanish fluently, and upon moving to Hunt he volunteered his time tutoring Spanish-speaking students so they could stay in school. He also tutored and mentored youth at the Kerr County Juvenile Facility, and provided pro bono accounting services to Notre Dame Catholic Church. On Christmas Eve in 1995 Bill did something that changed his life: he sang in public for the first time at Midnight Mass. This defining moment led him to becoming a cantor, singing in Notre Dame's English and Spanish choirs, and performing in a chamber music group. Bill wrote, "When I open my mouth and hear that sound come out, I feel fulfilled." \r\n \r\n"Little league baseball lost one of its biggest fans" was the initial reaction of more than a few people upon hearing that Bill died. Tennis and women's college basketball were also at the top of his list, but he truly loved all sports. For many years, Bill thoroughly enjoyed playing three days a week in a local men's tennis group.\r\n \r\nIn Bill's later years what brought him the most joy was his connection with his children and their families. Granddaughter Hattie summed it up in these words, "He was a man who loved his family so much that he wrote a 750 page book devoted to its legacy."\r\n \r\nBill was preceded in death by his wife of 54 years Mary Anne Collins, parents Hattie and William Collins, and daughter Lucie Harriet who died in infancy.\r\n \r\nSurvivors include son William Collins and wife Barbara of Kerrville, daughters Mary Collins and partner Owen Raun of Houston, Bridget Collins of Omaha, Amanda Hellmann and son-in-law Richard of Houston, and Margaret Collins of Kerrville, granddaughters Paige Collins Ellis and husband Kyle, Hattie Collins Moll and husband Corey, Chandler Collins Mantiply and husband David, Adelaide Collins Moore and husband Michael, Rebekah Collins, Sydney Collins, Lauren Collins, Emily Hellmann, and Clare Hellmann, great granddaughter Mary Ann Ellis, and (finally a boy) great grandson John William "JW" Ellis, brothers-in-law Len, Michael, Tom and Jim Mewhinney, and cousins Margaret "Suzy" Collins Shields and Joan Houze Chandler. \r\n \r\nA mass celebrating Bill's life will be held at 11:30 am, March 11, 2017 at Notre Dame Catholic Church, 909 Main St, Kerrville, TX 78028. \r\n \r\nIn lieu of flowers, please make charitable donations to either the Kerrville Little League by mailing a check to KYBSA, PO Box 291787, Kerrville, TX 78029, or to Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance Greater Houston at www.DBSAGreaterhouston.org\r\n