PLAINS – Minnie A. Collins, age 93, died Sunday evening, March 15, 2009, at the Lone Tree Retirement Center, Meade, Kansas.

She was born January 5, 1916, at Phillie, Missouri, the daughter of John and Prudence Conner. As a young girl, she and her brother and sisters were orphaned and were raised by her Aunt Alma and Uncle Guy Fitzpatrick in Shell City, Missouri.

On July 18, 1945, she married Harold S. Collins in Ft. Scott, Kansas. After her marriage, the couple owned and operated the Collins Auction Company in El Dorado Springs, Missouri, until the death Harold on March 14, 1984. In addition to the auction company, she maintained the couples home.

She later moved to Meade County, Kansas, to be near her sister, Wyonona Lawson. She attended the First Baptist Church, Plains. Minnie enjoyed visiting with family and friends. While at Lone Tree Retirement Center, she was known as the unofficial greeter, and had a found love for cats.

She is survived by:
Five nephews, Carl Snyder of High Point, Arkansas
Royce Lawson, of Shawnee, Kansas
Jerry Lawson, of Junction City, Kansas
James Alan Lawson, of Omaha, Nebraska
Charles Lawson, of Westminister, Colorado

Two Nieces, Mary Ann Snyder of Mountain View, Arkansas
Donna Hauser of Iola, Kansas

Several great-nieces and nephews

She is preceded in death by her parents; a brother, Hadley; and two sisters, Eunice Snyder and Wyonona Lawson.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, March 17, 2009, at Fidler-Orme-Bachman Mortuary Chapel, Meade, with the Pastor Neal Foster presiding. Friends may call from 9:00 a.m. until service time Tuesday, at the funeral home. Interment will be in the Clintonville Cemetery, El Dorado Springs, Missouri, on Wednesday, March 18, 2009.

The family would welcome memorials to the First Baptist Church or the Young at Heart in care of the funeral home.