Mary Wilson Collins, 79, of Rainbow Lake, NY passed away peacefully at home on October 25th, 2022.
Born in 1943 in Mountain City, Tennessee, she was the daughter of R. Clyde Wilson and Berlin Wilson. She married Donald Collins on May 28, 1965, in the First Baptist Church in Johnson City, Tennessee
She graduated from Johnson County High School in Mountain City, Tennessee on June 10,1960 and graduated from East Tennessee State University with a Bachelor of Science in English in 1964 and a Master of Arts in Reading in 1968. She later took classes at the University of Vermont.
Mary taught English at Ketron High School in Kingsport, Tennessee in 1964 through 1966 and taught Language Arts at South Junior High in Johnson City, Tennessee from 1966 through 1968. In 1968, she and Don moved to Paul Smiths, NY where she taught English, Reading, and was a librarian at Paul Smith’s College Library until 1989. In 1989, she taught Remedial Reading and Math at Lake Clear School and was Librarian at Petrova Elementary School in the Saranac Lake Central District until June 2005 when she retired.
Mary loved her family and the joy of her grandson, Cassidy, and her granddaughter, Lana. She loved reading with and writing to her grandchildren and enjoyed their sports as well as watching her son, Teradon, play sports.
Mary is survived by her son, Teradon Collins and his wife, Caryn, and grandchildren Cassidy and Lana Collins of Medford, MA; one brother Kenneth Wilson of Lenore, NC and one sister, Jean Mayberry of Canton, MI, and nieces, Sarah Morawski (Matt and children) and Donelle Buratto (Joe and children), and a nephew, Richard Wilson.
She was predeceased by her husband, Don, of 49 years, and her parents R. Clyde Wilson and Mary Berlin Wilson and her brother Terry M. Wilson, her sister Margaret L. Koch and her brother-in-law Edward Koch, her sister-in-law Sharon Wilson, her brother Lowell Wilson and sister-in-law Louise Wilson, and her brother-in-law Don Mayberry, and her sister Oleen Aguirre and her brother-in-law Eddie Aguirre.
At Mary’s request, no calling hours will be held, and a private burial will be held at a later date. Family and friends wishing to remember Mary W. Collins may make memorial contributions to the American Diabetes Association in care of the Fortune-Keough Funeral Home, 20 Church Street, Saranac Lake, NY 12983.
Family and friends may also share their memories and sign the online guest book at fortunekeoughfuneralhome.com