Opal Elmera Collins

Visitation service for Opal Elmera Collins, 85, West Plains, Missouri, will be held from 6:00 until 8:00 p.m., Friday, January 4, 2013, at Robertson-Drago Funeral Home. 

Mrs. Collins died at 11:50 a.m., Tuesday, January 1, 2013, at Brooke Haven Health Care. 

She was born August 10, 1927, at Cureall, Missouri, to Walter Jackson Chappell and Bertha Houser Cook Chappell.  On November 24, 1946, she was married at West Plains, Missouri, to Floyd Audie Collins, who preceded her in death on December 13, 1993.  Mrs. Collins was a wonderful wife and mother who worked hard all of her life.  Her mother died when she was three years old, leaving four children.  She was raised by her father and for a while, by an aunt and uncle, Bill and Vira Chappell.  When her aunt became ill, the children took care of her until her death.  She learned to cook when she was so young that she had to stand on a box.  The girls were taught to make their own clothes and garden to can food at a young age while their brother worked the farm.  Mrs. Collins moved to West Plains as an adult and worked in a factory making military uniforms until the war ended.  She then worked in a café as a waitress until she met and married her husband, Floyd Collins.  She was a homemaker and stay at home Mom.  She was an excellent cook, famous for her pies.  She loved gardening and canning and was known for her beautiful flowers.  She babysat numerous grandchildren and cared for her husband after a stroke until his death in 1993.

She is survived by three children, Carolyn Warden, husband, Larry, Ferguson, Missouri, Connie Davidson, husband, Jim, West Plains, Missouri and Gary Collins, wife, Demaris, Chinandaga, Nicaragua; nine grandchildren, Kevin Davidson, wife, Leann, Kyle Davidson, wife, Sherri, Craig Davidson, Andrew Hawkins, and Todd Hawkins, all of West Plains, Scott Warden, wife, Deanna, Ferguson, Missouri, Staci Lieberman, husband, Jack, Ballwin, Missouri, Michelle Woods, husband, Nathan, Imboden, Arkansas and Justin Collins, Hot Springs, Arkansas; twelve great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren; two sisters, Ruby Baxter and Bess Chappell, both of West Plains, Missouri; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Her parents, husband, one brother, Lee Cook, one daughter, Kathy Hawkins, one infant son, one grandson, Jack Collins and numerous brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, precede her in death.

Memorial contributions may be made to Cureall Cemetery, and may be left at Robertson-Drago Funeral Home.