ROY COLLINS
March 3, 2013
ROY ALBERT COLLINS March 22, 1921 – March 3, 2013 Peacefully, Roy passed away Sunday, March 3, 2013, at the Deer Lodge Centre, Winnipeg, MB at the age of 91 years. Left to cherish Roy’s memory are daughters Janet Warden (Ian), Kathleen Zimmerman (Alex); son Graham (Gloria); grandchildren Carla Zimmerman, Robert Collins and Kevin Collins, and sister Doris. He was predeceased by his wife, Nesta in 2010; as well as by brother Leonard and sister Hazel. Roy was born March 22, 1921, in Winnipeg MB. He enlisted in the Canadian army in March 1940 and immediately was dispatched to England. He was a truck driver and then transitioned to becoming a motorcycle dispatch rider for Canadian Military Headquarters, London; a job he held for two years. It was during this time as a dispatch rider he met the love of his life, Nesta, and they married in 1942. Roy transferred to a military repair shop in London as a Panel Beater. In late 1944, he volunteered to serve in a fighting unit. Nesta moved to Winnipeg in January 1945, with their firstborn child and Roy was dispatched to the European stage serving in Italy, France, Holland and Germany. At the end of the war he returned to his wife and child in Winnipeg. He purchased a home in Charleswood where he lived for 61 years. Roy worked for the City of Winnipeg as a streetcar driver and a bus driver for 30 plus years. He enjoyed a long retirement of doing home renovations, garage building and fixing almost anything that ever broke. He loved to drive which was useful to visit his son Graham and family in Calgary and daughter Kathleen and family in Victoria. Roy was always willing to lend a helping hand to neighbours and was always cheerful. He was absolutely amazing as the caregiver of his wife who suffered from Alzheimer’s. Roy resided at Sturgeon Creek II in St. James for four years and the past four months at Deer Lodge Centre. In compliance with Roy’s wishes there will be no Funeral Service. A special thanks is extended to the staff at Sturgeon Creek II and Deer Lodge Centre as well as his companions that kept him active and entertained, Donna, Leesa, and Mary-Anne. In lieu of flowers, donations in Roy’s memory may be made to the Alzheimer’s Society of Manitoba. Richard Wojcik, Funeral Director of Wojcik’s Funeral Home Crematorium, 204 – 897 – 4665 www.wojciksfuneralchapel.com. As published in the Winnipeg Free Press on March 09, 2013
