William Norman Collins

            We are gathered this morning to bear witness to our faith in the resurrection, the resurrection of all who are buried in Jesus Christ the Lord and the resurrection of William Norman Collins.  Norman died on Monday evening.  He was 86.

            Norman Collins was born in Burgaw, NC, the son of James and Esther Collins, in 1920. Norman lived there with his five siblings in his early years, but the community lacked the educational and medical resources to adequately respond to his congenital curvature of the spine.  Through an uncle who was a Mason, Norman got an appointment with the Shriner’s Children’s Hospital in Greenville, SC.  He ended up staying at the hospital for two years following spinal surgery.  Most of that time was spent in a full body cast.

            Following those two years in the hospital, Norman went to live with his aunt in Wilmington, in order to attend the better schools available there.  This aunt, whom he called “Sis”, was one of those people who had a chance to save a life and she did it.  All she did, really, was not let Norman be a cripple or handicapped.  She made him get a paper route and sent him to piano lessons.  With his buddies, Norman ended up being a “normal” rough and tumble boy who loved music and sports – he was equally at home with a cello bow or a nine iron.

            When America entered the Second World War, Norman worked first at the Camp Davis Army base and then the Wilmington shipyard, to do his part for the war effort.  When the war ended, he studied engineering at NC State for two years, before leaving for Chicago and the Coyn Electrical and Radio School.

            Returning to his native North Carolina, Norman opened his own electrical repair shop.  But as he said, “I found out I was starving”, so he went to work for a subsidiary of Sperry Rand, Wright’s Machinery in Raleigh.

            It was during this period that with a cousin, he attended a Dixie Classic Tournament Basketball game over in Durham.  Also attending this game was a Wake Forest co-ed Joan Wilkie.  What began as a friendship moved along, and by 1952, Norman and Joan were married.  They enjoyed 55 years of marriage, and had two children, Kenneth and Linda.

            After Joan finished her medical technology training at Duke, the couple moved to Raleigh, where Norman went to work for AMF as a design engineer.  Soon they were transferred to Richmond, then back to the Research Triangle for two years, before returning to Richmond for good.  Eventually Norman left AMF and worked as a design engineer for Philip Morris.  He retired in 1985.

Norman was always a guy who loved to fix things and figure how they worked.  His family and friernds assumed he could fix anything.  While that may not have been literally true, it was true that Norman was not afraid to TRY and fix anything.

When they settled here in Bon Air, Norman set out to essentially rebuild his house.  Norman tackled building a major addition to their home – by himself.  He did the carpentry, the wiring, the plumbing, the roofing.  The finishing – well, not quite enough of the finishing to satisfy Joan.

Norman’s secret dream was to be a civil engineer, but recognizing his physical challenges, he devoted himself instead to mechanical and electrical projects.

Perhaps because of his physical challenges, Norman became an accomplished athlete.  He was an avid golfer and a good bowler and taught his children to enjoy both.  He loved to fish and play in the surf. He encouraged his children to be physically active, and never missed their ball games.  He simply refused to see himself as limited by his stature or condition.

As a child he learned to play the piano and cello and played in musical ensembles.  As an adult he got tired of paying a piano tuner, so he taught himself to tune his piano.

Norman was a loving and devoted husband, a conscientious father and an attentive grandfather. A friend of his summed up Norman this way:  he was a very intuitive creature, architecturally talented, and a devoted family man. He was a true giant in a small frame.

Norman was a lifelong Presbyterian and an active member of the Bon Air Presbyterian Church for over forty years, where he served for many years as a teller, counting and recording the church’s weekly deposits.

            Norman is survived by his wife of 55 years, Joan Collins; his son, Kenneth Norman Collins and his wife, Teresa, of Richmond; and his daughter, Linda Collins Webster and her husband, Guy, of Charlottesville, Va.;  five grandchildren, Scott and Eric Webster, Anna-Marie, Alexis and Taylor Collins.  He is also survived by two sisters, Isabelle Hoey, of Wilmington, N.C., and Edna Hufham, of Burgaw, N.C.; sister and brother-in-law, Jane and J.C. Wilkie of Myrtle Beach, S.C.; several nephews and nieces; and many devoted friends.

            Having gathered for our mutual support and to hear the witness of the scriptures, let us worship God:

R. Charles Grant

Bon Air Presbyterian Church

Richmond, VA

September 14, 2007