Cleve Brantley Collins

Cleve was born in Camilla, Georgia, to Charles Brantley and Chandler Parker Collins on October 5, 1945. He married Nancy Flowers on July 12, 1969, in Hartwell, Georgia. He graduated from Mitchell County High School in Camilla, the University of Georgia in Athens, and the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. In 1971, he was assigned to Wilford Hall Hospital at Lackland Air Force Base where he did his medicine internship, internal medicine residency, and nephrology fellowship. In 1982, he joined Renal Associates in San Antonio and was a respected and successful nephrologist until his retirement in 2013.

Cleve was preceded in death by his parents and sister. He is survived by his wife, one son and his wife and child, brother-in-law and sister-in-law, and many beloved nieces, nephews and cousins.

Cleve’s life was defined by integrity, generosity, intelligence, kindness, and humble proficiency in all he did, and his dry sense of humor was legendary. After being diagnosed with metastatic melanoma in 2019, he fought cancer with strength, grit, and stoic courage, never complaining about the hardships and suffering it caused him. He was deeply loved by the many people whose lives he touched, just as he loved his family and friends, especially his devoted wife and life partner Nancy.

Cleve loved life and had a wide variety of interests and hobbies, including travel, reading, animals, woodworking, cooking, gardening, music, sailing, being a handyman, nephrology, church, volunteering as a wheelchair ramp and house builder, family and high school reunions, collecting meaningful things, the Georgia Bulldogs football team, the San Antonio Spurs, jazz shows at the Landing and Jazz TX, his adopted home city of San Antonio, his Hill Country home, and even all the yard work which that home required. Throughout his life, he never stopped learning, growing, doing, and helping others.

His memorial service will be at Helotes Hills United Methodist Church in Helotes on April 18th at 2 pm with Rev. Will Rice and Rev. Cheryl Broome officiating. In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial to Helotes Hills United Methodist Church, 13222 Bandera Road, Helotes 78023, where he was an active member.