William Oscar Collins, 87, the oldest of four sons of William Oscar "Dick" Collins and Violet Pearl Smith, was born Oct. 9, 1916, at Dykes. He died Jan. 10, 2004, at Sun City, Ariz.
He graduated from schools at Dykes, White Rock and Houston before receiving his bachelor's degree from Southwest Missouri State. He received his master's from the University of Missouri and doctorate from Indiana University. While working on his degrees, he taught at several one-room schools surrounding Houston before moving to HHS, where he taught business courses, basketball during World War II and drivers' education.
He moved with his wife and son to Springfield to teach at SMS before moving to Pierce City to become high school principal. He returned to Springfield to teach at the college. Four years later, the family moved to Ypsilanti, Mich., where Mr. Collins was a professor at Eastern Michigan University. He always encouraged others to get a higher education. When he retired, the Collins' eventually moved to Sun City in 1983. They traveled to the 50 states and parts of Europe and Africa.
Mr. Collins spent years collecting data for the book "The Kinfolk of Perry White Collins", which he co-authored with Helen Collins Bailey and Rick Yarnell.
Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.
Oscar is 29 degrees from Herbert Adair, 24 degrees from Richard Adams, 23 degrees from Mel Blanc, 28 degrees from Dick Bruna, 24 degrees from Bunny DeBarge, 35 degrees from Peter Dinklage, 23 degrees from Sam Edwards, 21 degrees from Ginnifer Goodwin, 23 degrees from Marty Krofft, 20 degrees from Junius Matthews, 20 degrees from Rachel Mellon and 24 degrees from Harold Warstler on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.