Margaret C. Collins

Candler - Margaret Lynette Champion Collins, 75, of 247 Holcombe Cove Road died Sunday, January 6, 2002 at Emerald Ridge Rehabilitation and Care Center following a period of declining health. A native of Forest City. Mrs. Collins had lived in Hendersonville for 30 years prior to moving to Asheville where she has resided for the past 22 years. She retired in 1980 as manager of the Coca Cola Bottling Company in Brevard, was a member of Hominy Baptist Church, Past Worthy Matron of the Order of the Eastern Star Chapter #61 in Hendersonville, the Ladies auxiliary of the Mars Hill Shrine Club and an avid golfer. Mrs. Collins was a graduate of Cool Springs High School in Forest City and a graduate in management from Blue Ridge Tech in Hendersonville. She was a daughter of the late Ural Avery and Nannie Jane Kiser Champion and was also preceded in death by her brothers, John, Ernest and Martin Champion. Surviving are her husband, Rev. Rex Collins, Minister at Hominy Baptist Church and Buncombe County Sheriffs Department Chaplain, of the home; sisters, Bernice Philbeck, Eva Toms and Sue Grant all of Forest City; brothers, Bud Champion of Forest City and Dr. Ron Champion of Washington, N.C. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday in the chapel of Anders-Rice Funeral Home with the Revs Dr. Joe Yelton, Dr. Ralph Sexton, Sr. and Sonia Burleson officiating. Burial will be in Hominy Baptist Church Cemetery. Pallbearers will be Richard Sprinkle, Bruce Morgan, Dusty Rhodes, Bobby Gantt, J.R. Greene and Shawn Lane. Honorary Pallbearers will be Members of the Buncombe County Baptist Association and the Buncombe County Sheriffs Department. The family will receive friends 10 to 11 a.m. Wednesday at the funeral home with the Buncombe County Sheriffs Department serving as Honor Guard. Memorials may be made to Hominy Baptist Church Building Fund, 135 Candler School Road, Candler, N.C. 28715.