Mae Collins

MAE COLLINS was born July 30, 1924 to Walter and Clara (Anderson) Collins in Balaton, Minnesota. She attended country school in Skandia Township, first in District 8, then moving to District 20, and graduated from Balaton High School in 1942. She and an older sister, Ruth, moved to Waseca, Illinois and worked for Western Electric Telephone Company. She later moved to Chicago Heights and held various jobs related to supporting the production of war materials during World War II. In 1946 she moved back to the family farm, where she helped out and also worked for Swift Poultry in Marshall, Minnesota. When Mildred was battling cancer, Mae returned to Illinois for a number of months to take care of her. She became a resident of Colonial Manor in Balaton in 2010.

Mae was a member of Skandia Free Church in rural Balaton. She was very active in the congregation’s music program and played the guitar. She enjoyed hardanger embroidery, gardening, raising chickens, and music.

Mae is lovingly remembered by her brother, Phil Collins and his wife Ann of Clermont, Florida, and many other relatives and friends. She was preceded in death by two brothers, Warren and Raymond Collins, and her sisters, Mildred Glover and Ruth Reiter.