Howard Collins
Howard Collins, 94, of Bowling Green died Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017 at the Missouri Veterans Home in Mexico.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held 10 a.m., Wednesday at St. Clement Catholic Church in St. Clement with the Rev. Jason T. Doke S.T.L. officiating. Burial will be in St. Clement Cemetery with full military rites performed by the VFW Post #5553 and Missouri Military Honors.
Visitation will be held from 4-7 p.m., Tuesday (today) at Bibb-Veach Funeral Home in Bowling Green.
Howard was born May 21, 1923, the son of Mahlon James Collins, a Mason and Knights Templar, and Elizabeth Dean Collins. While in the service he married Hazel Yarbrough and had two sons. He later married Karen Dianne Barksdale Dec. 30, 1975 in Fern Park, Fla., and had one daughter.
He is survived by his wife; two sons, J. Michael Collins and wife, Debbie and Thomas Lawrence Collins, both of the Lake of the Ozarks; a daughter, Stacey Elizabeth Bibb and husband, Ryan of Bowling Green; nine grandchildren, Kristen Tomei and husband, Rodolfo, Caleb Collins and wife, Sara, Philip Bibb, Jack Bibb, Conor Bibb, Jorie Bibb, Charity Herren and husband, Mark, Angela Suddarth and husband, Heath, and Adam VanMeter and wife, Noelle; 16 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.
He was preceded in death by his parents, two sisters, Mildred Collins Slusher and Elizabeth Lucille Collins Walker.
Howard grew up in the coal mining hills of Harlan County, KY during the Great Depression and attended a one-room school house until he moved to Cincinnati with his mother.
At the age of 14, he hitchhiked out West, hopping freight train cars to Colorado to look for work so he could move his ailing mother out there for treatment. After being turned away repeatedly because of his age, he returned home and his mother died shortly thereafter.
Upon her death, he moved to his father’s farm where he stayed until he left to join the United States Navy when WWII first started, serving his country as an Aviation Ordnanceman 1st Class from 1941-1945.
During the war, Howard flew in the Navy’s PBY land and sea plane, stationed at Midway Island in the Pacific Ocean, as well as serving in the Atlantic. During his service, he received special Commendation for saving the life of a fellow serviceman when he pulled him out of a burning aircraft. After returning from War, he completed his education in Starke, Fla., at Bradford County High School.
Howard retired as a lieutenant from the Florida State Highway Patrol, where he served from 1946-1970. During his career, he served the Governor of Florida working special detail in the Florida State Prison from 1953-56, as well as Governor-appointed special detail for Martin Luther King Jr in St. Augustine, 1964.
As a state trooper, Howard won the Florida State Pistol Championship, first place Slow Fire, first place Marksman, and first place Sharpshooter. He also worked part-time as a Federal Marshall, transporting criminals on domestic flights.
After retirement, he worked as an instructor at the University of Florida and Florida State University. He later worked Federal Law Enforcement at N.A.S.A. Kennedy Space Center 1979-1985. The following year, he moved his family to Louisiana.
He served as municipal court judge in Louisiana from 1989 – 1993. Howard was honored as 2001 Legionnaire of the Year, and was a member of the VFW and St. Clement Catholic Church.
Serving as pallbearers will be Ryan Bibb, Michael Collins, Caleb Collins, Rick Mollerus, Jim Mollerus and Donald Meyer. Serving as honorary pallbearer will be Thomas Collins.
Memorials may be made to the Missouri Veterans Home in Mexico, or St. Clement Catholic School.
