Samuel Pickens Collins Jr.

Sam, the son of Brigadier General Samuel Pickens ‘Pick’ Collins and Ada Kathleen Collins was born in Burlington, VT in 1935. Raised in an army family, Sam became accustomed to moving around during his early years. His father’s Field Artillery commission (and later move to the Signal Corps) assignments took the family to Wright-Patterson Field, OH, Miami, FL, and the Washington DC area, with the family house in Alexandria, VA. Sam’s sister, Anna Belle joined the family in 1942. When Pick wasn’t away serving in the Pacific during WWII, the family enjoyed hiking and picnicking in the Shenandoah mountains off Skyline Drive. He was stationed in Manila and Okinawa at the end of the war, and in 1946, Ada, Sam, and Anna Belle took a ship to Tokyo, Japan, where they joined Pick and lived for a year. After returning stateside to Ft Monmouth, NJ, then another DC stint, the family moved to Ft McPherson, GA where Sam graduated from College Park High School in 1953.

Sam originally planned to study architectural engineering and was accepted at Georgia Tech, but instead chose to follow the longstanding military tradition in his family, targeting the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY, where his father graduated in 1926. Sam attended Sullivan Prep School in Washington DC for a year to prepare for the entrance exam and received a congressional appointment to attend USMA in 1954. Sam strived for excellence at the academy, graduating with the class of 1958 with a BS degree and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army Corps of Engineers branch.

After attending the Engineering Basic Officer Leader course in Ft Belvoir, VA, and airborne jump school at Ft Benning, GA, where he earned his Parachutist badge, Sam’s first assignment (1959) was as a platoon leader in the 307th Combat Engineer Battalion of the mighty 82nd Airborne Division at Ft Bragg, NC. Between jumps and training missions, Sam made time to court and marry his lovely wife, Joan, whom he had met on a blind double date while a cadet at West Point several years earlier. Actually, Joan was on the blind date with Sam’s friend, but Joan and Sam hit it off better than they did with their respective dates. They were married in Joan’s hometown, where Sam’s parents lived, Moorestown, NJ, in 1960.

The army shipped Sam off to Korea (1961) to the 76th Engineering Construction Battalion for 16 months, during which time their son, Kenneth was born, while Joan lived at home in Moorestown, NJ. Sam returned stateside (1962) to meet his son, who was nearly one year old, then packed the family up for the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where he earned his MS in Civil Engineering (1964). Next, the family moved to Ft Belvoir, VA, where Sam completed the Engineer Officer Career advanced course, then served as aide-de-camp to the Commanding General. In 1964, Joan and Sam welcomed a daughter, Patricia, then promptly put the family on a plane for their next assignment (1965), West Berlin, Germany, where Sam was an Engineer Company Commander in the 1st Engineer Battalion, followed by a Brigade Staff position. Looking over the wall into East Berlin is something the family won’t forget.

Sam had to leave the family in NJ (1967) when duty called him to Vietnam for a position with the 1st Infantry Division, and later with the 1st Engineer Battalion as Operations Officer. Sam returned home, thankfully, and was then sent to the Command and General Staff College at Ft Leavenworth, KS, where he was joined by the family (1968). Next (1969), Sam and family went back to his old stomping grounds (USMA) for an assignment as a tactical officer and a Commandant’s staff position. Ken and Pattie have fond memories of living on Gardiner Loop next to the creek at West Point. Sam took the state engineering licensing exam and became a Registered Professional Engineer (1971). Then, it was back to Germany in 1972, where Sam was assigned as the 559th Engineer Battalion Commander in Hanau, followed by a staff position at the 5th Corps HQ in Frankfurt. Sam and Joan really enjoyed wine tasting along the Rhine and Mosel Rivers, taking the kids sightseeing, Volksmarching, and hiking around castle ruins.

The family returned stateside in 1975 and bought their first house in Fairfax, VA, where Sam built a major home addition while teaching the kids construction fundamentals and the value of hard work. Sam served at the Pentagon, first in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and later in the Office of the Chief of Engineers, and in between completed the one-year post-graduate program at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in Washington DC. In 1979, for the first time, Sam was asked for his preference between an engineer brigade and an engineer district; he chose the District Engineer position and relocated to Vicksburg, Mississippi, where the family enjoyed living on a small lake at the Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station. For his last change of station (1982), Sam was sent (the Army really had to twist his arm) to San Francisco, CA, as the 6th Army Engineer, a post he held for two years, followed by a final role as Assistant Division Engineer, South Pacific Division of the Army Corps of Engineers, to which Sam had fun commuting by motorcycle. Joan and Sam enjoyed living in a beautiful Victorian house on the Presidio, across from the Palace of Fine Arts, and overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge.

After serving nearly 30 years in the army, Sam retired in 1987 at the rank of Colonel. His many decorations include the Bronze Star (3 oak leaf clusters), Legion of Merit (2 oak leaf clusters), Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal (oak leaf cluster), and Army Commendation Medal.

Of all the places the Army sent Sam, the Presidio of San Francisco was the favorite, so he decided to seek a civilian second career in northern California. Sam retired in Novato, CA where he held several engineering executive leadership roles, first at Harding Lawson Associates in Novato, and later at Parsons Engineering and Construction of Pasadena. In 2003, he fully retired to focus on constructing an addition to their home, playing tennis and golf, gardening, barbecuing, and spending more time with family and friends. Sam enjoyed taking his family and friends on trips to his various timeshares in CA, HI, and abroad, culminating in a scenic France vacation in 2019.

Sam was a loving brother, husband, father, and grandfather. He treasured the many close friendships that developed over his lifetime. He and Joan raised two successful children, both engineers, and taught them fundamental beliefs of honesty, integrity, responsibility for actions, the value of education and hard work, and love and empathy. In his legacy, they in turn have worked to instill those same core values in their own children.

Sam is survived by his sister: Anna Belle Almy (husband Stephen) of Somerset, CA, his children: son Kenneth Collins (wife Denise), daughter Patricia Foxhoven (husband Daniel), and his grandchildren: Jessica Foxhoven, Justin Foxhoven, Jeffrey Collins and Jennifer Foxhoven, all of San Jose, CA. He was predeceased by his wife, Joan Collins, in 2007. Sam will be missed dearly by all who knew him.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Michael J Fox foundation for Parkinson’s Research at https://www.michaeljfox.org/