Joyce Eileen Collins

Joyce Eileen Collins, 94, passed away peacefully on June 30, 2025, surrounded by her family at her home in Ham Lake, MN. When she was first diagnosed with an aggressive cancer in January, she responded by saying, “I’ve had a wonderful life. I’m 93 years old and nobody lives forever.”

Joyce was born June 18, 1931 in La crosse, WI to Bernard and Elvera Timm. She always felt blessed to have enjoyed a wonderful childhood growing up on her family’s dairy farm. She graduated from high school shortly before her seventeenth birthday and started college that fall in Lacrosse. Two years later, she received her teaching degree, and began teaching in a small rural school in Holmen, Wisconsin.

She married her childhood sweetheart, Jim Collins, on June 5, 1951. In fact, while Joyce denied remembering him as a small child, she loved to repeat his assertion that he had his heart set on marrying her from the first time they met--when she was three years old. Just a few months after their wedding, Jim was drafted for the Korean War and served two years in the army, including a year on the frontlines of Korea. During this time, she continued teaching and, with the support of family, raised their infant daughter, Judy. After Jim returned, they continued living in and near Mindoro, Wisconsin, and their son, Jim (Mike), was born. Their early years of marriage required many moves as Jim pursued a career in electronics and computer technology. In 1955 they moved four-year-old Judy and two-year-old Mike from Wisconsin to Chicago, where Joan was born. Their son, John, was born in in Fort Worth, TX. From there, it was on to Ilion, NY; Iowa City, IA: Waterloo, IA; and finally, in 1963, to St Paul, MN. Her children were eleven, nine, seven, and five when they made that last move. Through all those changes, Joyce ensured that her young children felt secure and never displaced. She was the heart and hearth of home, regardless of where the house was.

Joyce loved all outdoor activities. With the primary purpose of viewing birds and wildlife, she and Jim explored many exotic lands, including Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Peru, and the Galápagos Islands. She enjoyed camping, fishing, pheasant hunting, and gardening. Joyce was a skilled fisherman, and Jim never minded being outfished by her. She was a wonderful cook who loved feeding people. For years, no family gathering was complete without her homemade bread sticks. Above all else, Joyce loved her family and was a nurturing caretaker. As Jim’s health slowly failed in later years, she devoted herself to caring for him until his death in 2020. They had been married for 68 years. She gave unconditional love to all of her children and grandchildren and their spouses, and her great-grandchildren. That loving care extended to friends of family, as well. She was always ready to listen, to help, and to place an extra plate at the table.

She is survived by her children, Judy (Kevin) Flicker, Joan (Ron) Collins-Marotte, John (Kathy) Collins; her daughter-in-law, Sherre Collins (Dan Karg); her grandchildren, Tyrel (Leah), Justin (Abigail), and Sam (Kelsey) Collins, Isaac (Sarah) Marotte, Julia (Andrew) Reiland, Joe (Michele) Flicker, Tressa (Sean) Wyner; and her great-grandchildren, Moselle and Atira Collins, Atticus, Winston and Rex Wyner, Jaxen and Alexander Flicker, Harrison and Hudson Collins, Quinn and Crosby Reiland.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Jim; her son, Mike Collins; her grandson, Anthony Marotte; her parents; and her three siblings, Gale, Janice, and Alan.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, August 2, 2025 at the Sunset Funeral Chapel (2250 St Anthony Blvd. NE, Minneapolis, MN), with visitation one hour prior to service, from 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. Burial following in Sunset Cemetery. Lunch will be served at 1:00 p.m.