Gloria Olive Collins

Gloria Olive (Demers) Collins passed away peacefully in the early morning hours of 9 October 2025. She would have been 96 on the 13th. Born in Webster, Massachusetts just two weeks shy of the 1929 stock market crash, Gloria grew up to be an ace student. She was a premier speller in grade school, one year making the local paper as spelling bee runner-up, tripped only by the word “glutton” which she delivered with an “e.” Gloria was a 1949 graduate of Colby Junior College in New London, New Hampshire, then became the private secretary to the Director of the Clark University Graduate School of Geography in Worcester, Massachusetts. There she met her future husband of 68 years, Army Captain John Martin Collins. Gloria thereupon embarked upon a 22 year life as an Army wife, packing up for moves to Japan and France and numerous locales around the United States, holding down all household and financial responsibilities, as well as all aspects of child-rearing. Then and thereafter, she was well respected for her social skills. She was held in high esteem for her decades of volunteer community service, from hospital aide to exercise trainer for the elderly. Gloria was a loving mother, grandparent, and great grandparent. She is greatly missed. Gloria is survived by her son and only child, Sean, grandchildren Kate and James, and four great grandchildren, Frank, Charlotte, Clara, and Adeline. Details on celebrations and services will be announced as they are known.