Collins, Eleanore Elaine 'Cookie'

Eleanore Elaine "Cookie" Collins, 79, passed away Friday, Aug. 14, 2009, at her son's home in Mesa, Ariz. "Cookie" was a life long resident of Eastern Iowa, having lived in Muscatine, Cedar Rapids, Marion and the rural Solon-Shueyville area. Funeral Service: 2 p.m. Friday at the Ralph J. Wittich-Riley-Freers Funeral Home, with the Rev. Bruce Martin to officiate. Terry Clang will provide acoustic guitar for the service. Serving as casket bearers will be Kory Collins, Cameron Collins, Deke Gleim, Terry Clang, Steve Brade and Jeff Williamson. Interment: Greenwood Cemetery in Muscatine. Visitation: Noon to 2 p.m. Friday at the funeral home.

In lieu of flowers the family requests that memorials be made to Unity Hospice.

Online condolences for the Collins family may be left at www.wittichfuneralhome.com.

"Cookie" was born on Nov. 17, 1929, in Detroit, Mich., the daughter of J.H. Edward and Leona L. Schultz Elfers. She married David H. Collins on Oct. 9, 1948, in Muscatine. After a brief residence in Chicago, the happy couple set up their first home in Cedar Rapids, and the births of their three sons occurred there. In 1960, the family moved to Marion, where their sons grew to adulthood. They spent two years in China on assignment with Mr. Collins' company. Prior to retirement, they moved to the rural Solon area where they had an acreage and enjoyed hosting all of the families and grandchildren.

She is survived by her sons, Kevin LaRoy Collins and wife, Jeanne, of Mesa, Ariz., Kim Allen Collins and companion, Ancil Davis, and Kane Drury Collins of Kansas City, Mo.; eight grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her companion of many years, Francis "Buzz" Maish in 2007; her parents; and two sisters, Delores Peterson and Jackie Goolsby.