- Date Of Birth: June 15, 1927
- Date Of Death: May 2, 2021
- State: Colorado
John Ellsworth Collins, 93, of Parker, Colorado passed away on May 2, 2021, in Denver, Colorado. He was born in Onalaska, Wisconsin on June 18, 1927 to Ellsworth E. “Todgie” and Helen Mary Collins (née Brooks). The second eldest of 4 brothers, John was 8 years old when his mother died. His father later married Gertrude Hodgdon Goodenough and John gained a stepbrother.
In 1944, John enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps by lying about his age – he was only 16 years old. He traveled by train to California to report to Camp Pendleton.
After discharge, John returned to Onalaska to complete high school in October 1945. Later, he joined a Navy buddy in Kingsville, Texas where he worked a variety of jobs at the Celanese chemical plant. There he met Josephine Keepers and they married July 12, 1952. John and Jo moved to Austin, Texas where John enrolled at the University of Texas and graduated in 1956 with a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering.
Joining Standard Oil of Texas, which became Chevron Oil, John and Jo lived in Monahans, Texas and Farmington, New Mexico. Their daughter, Margaret “Meg” Collins was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1958. As John worked in the “oil patch”, the family moved to Houston and later Snyder, Texas. Always fascinated with flight, John learned to fly in Snyder and briefly owned a single engine Piper airplane. When he was promoted to sales and utilization, he was transferred to Houston, Texas, Denver, Colorado and New Orleans, Louisiana.
After 30 years with Chevron Oil, John and Jo moved to San Antonio, Texas where in retirement, John continued to consult for the industry.
In 1991, a mutual neighbor introduced John to Bonnie Winters and as they embraced life anew, they began traveling together. Often, they traveled to conferences for Bonnie’s profession as Chief Nurse Anesthetist VA Health. While traveling on the Orient Express train to Venice, John proposed to Bonnie and they married April 24, 1993 in San Antonio, Texas.
John became more active in the USMC Association and joined the Iwo Jima 50th Anniversary Reunion of Honor tour to the island on March 14, 1995. He went up Mt. Suribachi, attended the ceremonies, met up with buddies and honored his fallen comrades on the black sands.
In 2000, John and Bonnie moved to the Denver area to be near Bonnie’s daughter and her husband and later, 2 grandchildren.
On April 10, 2020, Bonnie, John’s wife of 27 years, passed away after a long illness. For a time, he lived with daughter Meg and her husband, before moving to assisted living at Lincoln Meadows, Parker, Colorado.
John is preceded in death by his parents; his brothers Edward, Robert, Richard Collins and Chester Goodenough; two wives and many valiant veterans from World War II. John is survived by his daughter Margaret “Meg” Collins (Richard Pegg) of Highlands Ranch, Colorado; step granddaughter Katy Pegg of London, England; stepdaughter Amma Winters Rios (Albert) and grandchildren Alex and Abby Rios of Centennial, Colorado; stepsons Timothy D. Winters (Elaine) of Kentucky; and Craig Iain D. Winters (Diana) of Texas.
The Denver Hospice
8289 E. Lowry Blvd,
Denver, CO 80230
Marine Toys for Tots Foundation
18251 Quantico Gateway Drive
Triangle, VA 22172
