- Date Of Birth: November 11, 1939
- Date Of Death: October 1, 2021
- State: Florida
Annie Laura ‘Collins’ Porter, age 81, of Fort White, Florida, passed away on Friday, October 1, 2021, at the University of Florida Shands hospital in Gainesville, Florida following an extended illness. Annie Laura was born in Fort White, Florida on November 11, 1939, to the late George Edward Collins and Winnie Moreland Collins.
Annie Laura grew up in Fort White, graduating from Fort White High School in 1957. She attended the Orange Memorial School of Nursing in Orlando, Florida from 1958 – 1960. Her training began in Orlando, Florida but continued at Charity Hospital School of Nursing in New Orleans, Louisiana. She graduated with her degree in nursing 1960.
Annie Laura began her nursing career in 1960 at Alachua General Hospital in Gainesville, Florida. She moved to the University of Florida Student Medical Infirmary while her husband was a student at UF. She was a nurse supervisor at a nursing home while living in Quincy, Florida from 1976 – 1978.
Annie Laura was preceded in death by her parents, George and Winnie Collins and her brother Edward Collins. She was married for 61 years and is survived by her husband Norman, her son Eathan, her daughter Becky, grandchildren Nathan and Sarah, her son George (Laura), grandchildren Hailey, Henry and Harper, brother Steve Collins (Pauline), sisters-in-law Mary Ann Collins and Gwen Hawkins, and brother-in-law Bobby Porter.
Annie Laura was the seventh generation that lived on the President Buchanan land grant area. Her ancestors moved into Florida in 1823. This area was named Collins Community near the Mill Pond area along the east side of the Ichetucknee River. She moved away to attend nursing school and begin her family in 1960.
Annie Laura was also a member of a 1991 citizens group concerned about a proposed intensive animal confinement operation in the Fort White area that could degrade the Floridian aquifer. The lobbying effort of the team was successful in the permit not being approved. Annie Laura loved nature and always had feeders full for the birds.
