Jack Collins

Faison

Jack Denny Collins, 88, of 165 N.C. 50 North, died Oct. 31, 2012, at Carolina East/Quinn Hospice Center in Kenansville.

A memorial will be 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Faison Presbyterian Church, the Revs. Tim and Kathy Beach-Verhey officiating. A interment service with military honors will be 3 p.m. Saturday at Meadowbrook Cemetery in Lumberton.

Jack was born in Lumberton on Sept. 18, 1924, to James Theria and Charity Graham Collins. After graduating from Lumberton High School, he attended Pembroke Junior College before entering the Army in 1943. He was a member of the elite 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team, Headquarters 2nd Battalion. Jack served in the European Theater during World War II, where he fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star as a result of his service.

After the end of the war, he received an honorable discharge from the Army and returned to North Carolina, where he attended UNC Chapel Hill from 1946 to 1948. He began working with Collins Transfer Company before moving on to operate several businesses, including Jack Collins Produce Company and Truck Brokerage, C-T Sales Inc., and most recently Jack Collins Produce Company Inc. He was known by many in the produce community as “Honest Jack,” a title of which he was very proud.

Jack was predeceased by his wife of over 50 years, Barbara Ann Collins and a son, Robert Arthur Collins.

He is survived by a son, Jack Collins Jr. and wife Sharon; a daughter, Susan Collins Mikitka and husband Nick Mikitka; five grandchildren, B. J. Collins, Matt Collins, Jack Collins III, Conner Mikitka and Hunter Mikitka; and two great-grandsons, Carson Collins and Cameron Collins.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Carolina East Home Care & Hospice Foundation, P. O. Box 887, Kenansville, N.C., 28341, or 517th PRCT Association, Attn: Brenda Verbeck Mortensen, 13046 Race Track Road No. 1220, Tampa, Fla., 33626.

Condolences may be sent to the family at www.crumpler-honeycutt.com.

Arrangements are by Crumpler-Honeycutt Funeral Home, 118 Fayetteville St., Clinton, N.C. 28328.

Paid obituary