Norman Edward "Sonny" Collins Jr., 67
NEWARK - Norman Edward "Sonny" Collins Jr. of Newark, and of Warwick, Md., died Saturday, Sept. 29, 2007, in his family home in Warwick, surrounded by his loving family. He was 67.
Professor Collins was the son of the late Norman E. Sr. and Katie Leola Hall Collins.
He received his undergraduate degree in agricultural engineering from the University of Delaware, his master"s degree from the University of Maryland and his Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.
Professor Collins taught bioresource engineering for 40 years at the University of Delaware before retiring in 2005, assuming the status of professor emeritus of that subject. During his tenure at the university, he served as department chair for 11 years, received the Outstanding Educator Award in 1975, received the Young Engineer of the Year award in 1979 from the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, was president of the local chapter of the American Association of University Professors, received the first University Excellence in Academic Advising award voted by the students in 1988 and the college"s Outstanding Academic Advising award in 1989, received the Excellence in Teaching Adult Students award from the Division of Continuing Education in 1997, led in developing the Engineering Technology degree for students working in the field, for which he received recognition as a Delaware SuperStar in Education in 1993, was recognized as an outstanding instructor and "Friend of 4-H" in 1995 and developed a program to optimize the environment in broiler houses, working in conjunction with the poultry industry in Delaware. For many years, he also was an active grain farmer in Cecil County, Md. As a result of this combination of achievements and interests, he referred to himself as "an Ivy League tractor driver."
He was an avid model railroader of HO-scale trains, and a serious student of the Civil War.
After professor Collins retired from the university, he devoted many hours a week to the Delaware Agricultural Museum and Village, serving as a member, and subsequently president, of the Board of Trustees, and as acting director of the museum until the time of his death. He led the board in developing a major capital campaign to enable the museum to develop a self-sustaining endowment fund as a private non-profit organization. For professor Collins, preserving Delaware"s agricultural heritage was a mission and a family tradition, insofar as his father, Norman E. Collins Sr., and distant cousin, Corbit Collins, were among the original members of the museum. In September 2007, the Board of Trustees created the Norman E. Collins Jr. Distinguished Service Award to be given to the person who has done the most for the museum during the past year. The board chose Dr. Collins as the first recipient. He coached Little League and Babe Ruth baseball for 18 years in Newark, and was twice the president of the Country Place Homeowners" Association.
He will be dearly missed and lovingly remembered by his survivors, his wife, Suzanne Smith Collins; a daughter and a son-in-law, Denise Collins Waite and Jon Waite of Berwyn, Pa.; a son and a daughter-in-law, Norman Edward III and Kim Collins of Ithaca, N.Y.; four grandchildren, Sara Waite and Casey Waite, both of Berwyn, and Jack Collins and Tyler Collins, both of Ithaca; a sister and a brother-in-law, Brenda Collins Holloway and Randy Holloway; a niece and her husband, Cameron and Steve Brown; a grandnephew, Samuel Brown; two stepsons and a stepdaughter-in-law, David F. and Sharon Smith, of Richmond, Va., and Daniel W. Smith of Charleston, S.C.; two stepgrandchildren, Jessica Crenshaw and Jake Smith, both of Richmond; a maternal uncle, Kenneth Hall of Beacon, N.Y.; and numerous cousins of the Hall and Collins families.
Friends may call from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday in the Daniels and Hutchison Funeral Home LLC, 212 N. Broad St., Middletown.
Services will be 11 a.m. Wednesday in the Delaware Agricultural Museum and Village, 866 DuPont Highway (U.S. 13), Dover.
Burial will be in the new section of Odd Fellows Cemetery, Smyrna.
Instead of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions either to the Delaware Agricultural Museum and Village, 866 N. DuPont Highway, Dover, DE 19901, to preserve Delaware"s agricultural heritage; or to the Kristen Ann Carr Fund at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital, 1275 York Ave., New York, NY 10065, to support research to find a cure for liposarcoma.
Letters of condolence may be sent and guestbook signed at
www.daniels-hutchison.com.
