Phyllis Irene Collins

Age: 94 years; 5 months; 5 days Obituaries, which were placed in various newspapers in Ontario, Canada, Essex County, New Jersey, and Rutherford County, North Carolina, were written by Philip W. Collins and his brother, Douglas M. Collins: "Phyllis Earle Collins, 94, of Rutherfordton, North Carolina, and Rideau Lakes, Ontario, Canada, an expert in satellite orbit determination, died March 28th, 2001, at The Baptist Home For the Aged, Newark, New Jersey. Local arrangements are by the Spinelli-Scura & Weatherhead Funeral Home, Orange, New Jersey. Mrs. Collins was a supervisor for AT&T, Long Lines Division, in New York City from 1930 until 1939. Subsequently, in 1956, she joined AT&T's subsidiary Bell Laboratories at Whippany, New Jersey, that later became Lucent Technologies. Fluent in computer languages, Mrs. Collins wrote, developed and analyzed computer programs for Bell Laboratory's aerospace research in manned space flight and intercontinental nuclear warfare. In 1968 she was elected to membership in the Telephone Pioneers of America. Mrs. Collins retired from Bell Laboratories in 1971. Following graduation from East Orange (New Jersey) High School in 1924, she studied at Alabama College at Montevallo, The University of South Carolina and the Philadelphia School of the Bible. Mrs. Collins' college summers were spent counseling at Camp Milford, Kent, Connecticut. In 1958, along with her late son, Donald, she received a bachelor's degree in science from Upsala College, East Orange, New Jersey. Born October 23, 1906 in New York City, Mrs. Collins had a distinguished lineage. On her maternal side, her great-grand father, Captain Henry Clay Bartlett, for whom the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) post in Caldwell, New Jersey was named, was killed during the Civil War on May 8, 1864. Captain Bartlett was mortally wounded while leading the men of Company "G" of the 33rd New Jersey Volunteers, in an attack on a Confederate fortification atop Rocky Face Ridge at Dug Gap, Dalton, Georgia. An 1847 graduate of Princeton University, Captain Bartlett lived in Roseland, New Jersey, (then a section of Livingston) where, in 1995, his memory was honored with a street named Bartlett Court. Mrs. Collins' paternal forebears are recorded in "The History and Genealogy of the Earles of Secaucus, New Jersey", an 800-page genealogy that was published in 1924 by the Reverend Isaac Earle. It traces her line back several hundred years. Raised in East Orange, New Jersey, she lived in Oswego, New York, and Kunkletown, Pennsylvania, before moving to Livingston, New Jersey in 1940. In 1960 she began spending part of each year at her second residence on Newboro Lake, Ontario, Canada. In 1980 she moved to Rutherfordton. Married by the New York City Clerk on August 20, 1929, at the start of the Depression, the Collins' celebrated their 50th anniversary with a gala in 1979 at their home in Livingston, New Jersey. Then, in 1986, they celebrated their joint 80th birthdays at the Lake Lure Inn, Lake Lure, North Carolina. Mrs. Collins was in fellowship at the C&MA Long Hill Chapel, Chatham Township, New Jersey, from 1960 to 1980. Three sons and a daughter survive her: Douglas MacPherson of Alexandria, Virginia (Gabriele L. M. Eckoldt); Philip William of Livingston, New Jersey (Cheryl M. Sigler); Susan Potts of Stirling, New Jersey (Joseph H. Nowak); and Daniel Bartlett of Hummelstown, Pennsylvania (Suzanne Varney). Mrs. Collins also leaves twelve grandchildren as well as eleven great-grand children. Her eldest son, Donald Earle, predeceased her in 1964 (November 10th). His wife, the present Barbara Kerke Farner, survives him. Funeral services for Mrs. Collins will be held later in the Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, Rutherfordton, North Carolina. Final arrangements will be by the Crowe Mortuary of Rutherfordton. Mrs. Collins will be buried in the Pleasant Grove Road Baptist Church Cemetery, Rutherfordton, North Carolina, next to her husband, Alston Wade Collins, who predeceased her in 1988."