Gaynor Marie Collins

Gaynor was born to Mildred Collins and the late John Collins on December 12, 1967 in Oldham, England. Gaynor started school in England, then moved to Canada which meant a new school. But her family only stayed in Canada for 2 years and when the family moved back to England, Gaynor attended Counthill School in the Moorside area of Oldham. Gaynor always played sports growing up. She was on the netball team for Derker Junior, the field hockey team through Counthill, and she also swam for the Oldham town team. She specialized in the front crawl which is named freestyle in America. Gaynor was 16 and excited to start her adult life in England when her family immigrated to America in 1984. Moving to another country at this time in her life was not a part of her plans, but Gaynor decided to make the most of it. She graduated from Camelback High School and immediately enlisted in the United States Air Force, dreaming of attending University one day.

Gaynor was stationed at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, CA as an EMT and it was here in California she met her future husband, Jeff Foltz. They married on May 30, 1992, and remained together for 31 years, until Gaynor’s passing. Gaynor and Jeff welcomed a daughter in March 1993, whom they named Ashleigh and a second daughter Courtney in May 1995 just days before Gaynor graduated from U.C. Berkeley with a B.S. in Accounting and Finance. Despite having 2 small children, Gaynor was on the Dean’s List every semester and graduated Summa cum Laude. Gaynor was more than happy to be the central figure in the lives of her children and husband, the glue that held her little family together. She cared deeply for her family, not out of obligation, but because of who she was.

Gaynor threw herself into her children’s lives, often ferrying them to dance classes, singing lessons, sports practices and the like. She was their biggest fan, championing her children and pushing them to strive for greatness. She was always heavily involved in her daughters’ extracurriculars, from volunteering to assistant coach soccer teams to helping run badminton tournaments. When Jeff was absent for work, Gaynor would attend matches, plays or performances with her trusty video camera, lovingly recording her daughter’s achievements. Her passion was her family. In her free time, Gaynor’s other hobbies included traveling, exploring new cities and hiking occasionally. Gaynor preferred beaches to mountains because she hated being cold. But if the weather was favorable, she was happy to hike around Arizona with her husband Jeff and their dog Jax by their side.

Due to the nature of Jeff’s job, the family was blessed to travel often. Gaynor loved to travel, always wanting to visit someplace new and experience something different instead of revisiting their favorites. Gaynor has traveled to Australia, New Zealand, Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany, Portugal, Netherlands, Scotland, Wales, Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Tahiti, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, and England of course. She loved to return to England to visit extended family with her last trip being in 2016 to attend the wedding of a beloved cousin. Gaynor was a fantastic historian, tirelessly documenting these trips with photos, never caught without her trusty digital camera. Even as technology progressed and her daughters started to take photos on their cellphones, Gaynor never stopped carrying a digital camera. Gaynor expressed regret at never having the opportunity to stay in an overwater bungalow in Bora Bora or see the beaches of Southern Spain. Those were the next locations on her list. If you have the means to travel, we urge you not to wait and go see the world with your loved ones.

In addition to her love of family and desires for travel, Gaynor also maintained a career in the home mortgage business. There was not a problem Gaynor could not solve. She poured herself into work, priding herself on providing exceptional service as a Mortgage Loan Originator. She specialized in helping first time homebuyers, veterans and immigrants because their lives all struck a special chord within her. She also loved to tackle conundrums no one else could and would often spring awake in the middle of the night having solved a tricky loan in her sleep. Gaynor’s work gave her purpose. She lived to help others.

It would be wrong to say that Gaynor lost her battle with cancer because she never stopped fighting. No matter how sick she got or how much pain she was in, she was always determined, seemingly willing her body to survive with her mind alone. When anyone else would have broken, Gaynor stayed strong. Fiercely private, few people knew the extent to which Gaynor struggled. Her indomitable spirit and faith in God kept her pushing through the pain. Through her, we know what resilience and perseverance truly look like. There was no quit in Gaynor, the word simply was not in her vocabulary. Just because she is no longer here doesn’t mean she lost her fight. Gaynor was a fighter her whole life, always fighting for fairness and equality. God gave her the toughest fight of all which she fought hard until her very last breaths. Gaynor was diagnosed in the middle of March this year. Unfortunately, cancer takes more lives than it leaves behind.

Gaynor was always a strong woman. The only time Gaynor cried through her whole battle from diagnosis to death was in Mayo hospital while expressing to her daughters that she was worried about her husband because he was so sad. She didn’t cry for herself. She didn’t cry for her circumstances. Instead, she cried for her husband because she loved him and didn’t want him to be sad without her.

Gaynor is survived by her grandmother Emily, her mother Mildred, her husband Jeff and her daughters Ashleigh and Courtney.

A graveside service for Gaynor will be held Saturday, September 9, 2023 at 10:00am at Green Acres Mortuary & Cemetery, 401 North Hayden Road, Scottsdale, AZ 85257.

A celebration of life will be held directly after at 11:00am. In lieu of sending flowers, donations can be made in support of the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, UMOM New Day Centers, the Arizona Humane Society or Lost Our Home Pet Rescue. The family also encourages you to travel and spend quality time with your loved ones in Gaynor’s honor.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.greenacresmortuary.net.