In Memoriam : James Collins

James Collins James William Collins - age: 91
(July 28, 1933 to July 06, 2025 )
Resident of Surprise, Arizona

Visitation Information:
Private Service.

Obituary:
James William (Jim) Collins, 91, of Surprise, Arizona, passed away on July 6 while in hospice care.
Though a nearly lifelong Californian, Jim was born in Gore, Oklahoma, in 1933, the eldest child of Walter W. and Tressie Toney Collins. He was soon joined by a sister, Doris, and a brother, Carl.
The young Collins family lived a Dust Bowl-era biography not unlike that of the Joads in The Grapes of Wrath. Those early years instilled in Jim lifelong values of thrift, hard work, perseverance and humility. In 1940, the family joined millions in the westward migration, relocating to California in search of agricultural work. They lived in several San Joaquin Valley towns, from Weedpatch to Kingsburg to French Camp, before settling permanently in Exeter.
Jim attended Wilson Elementary School and graduated from Exeter Union High School, where he played quarterback for the Monarch football team and participated in other sports.
Graduating early, Jim enlisted in the U.S. Navy at age 17 along with lifelong friends Don Kelch and L.D. Younger. He served honorably from 1951 to 1954, stationed in places ranging from Monterey, California, to Jacksonville, Florida. Upon discharge, he hitchhiked from Jacksonville home to Exeteralways the place he considered his true hometown. He worked in construction, building homes that still stand around Exeter.
Determined to build a better life using his intellect rather than physical labor, Jim attended College of the Sequoias and landed his first technical job, with Western Electric in the 1950s. His work took him across the country, including a stint in Tacoma, Washington. After completing his assignment there, he returned to Exeter and remained with his employer and its successor companies through a steady, nearly 40-year career in telecommunications. He witnessed and oversaw the industry’s transformation, working through the evolution of Westinghouse into Continental Telephone, then Contel, and eventually Verizon, from which he retired in 1998.
Jim specialized in keeping the region’s central telephone systems operational during the era when few people yet had cell phones. Ironically, the high-decibel analog switching technology of his earlier work environment, before the silent digital era, led to permanent hearing loss which affected his own communication in later years. He was a longtime member of the Communications Workers of America and helped lead Central California’s transition from analog to digital phone systems in the 1980s, and was known for his reliability, technical skill, and work ethic.
In the 1970s, Jim served as president of the Exeter Lions Club and was an avid league bowler at Exeter Lanes.
In retirement years, Jim became the ever-patient assistant to wife, Lola, a professional muralist and studio artist. He built scaffolding, handled materials, and offered advice, chauffeuring her to large-scale mural sites across the West Coast and coastal Mexico. One of their most meaningful collaborations is a large-scale mural on Exeter’s main street depicting the family’s history in agriculture through the vintage fruit crate labels with which they were affiliated.
Jim and Lola also enjoyed RV travel, exploring the American West and returning late in life to visit his home state of Oklahoma.
He met fellow Exeter native Lola Mae Todd at a party in 1960. They married in Carson City, Nevada and made their home in Exeter, where they welcomed daughter Christy Colleene in 1961 and son Aaron Chase in 1962. Their marriage endured for nearly 64 years until Lola’s passing in August 2024. They relocated to the Phoenix area in 2022 to be near their granddaughter, Hayley Tashjian, and great-grandson, Beau, of Waddell, Arizona.
In addition to Hayley (partner Greg Simmons) and Beau, Jim is survived by daughter Christy Collins of Auburn, California; son Aaron Collins of Visalia, California; brother Carl Collins of Exeter; sister-in-law Loretta Armstrong of Turlock, California; and many nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents; sister Doris (Frank) Ballew of Bakersfield; and numerous extended family members throughout California and Oklahoma.
Though a highly articulate man, Jim was known as a quiet person. He was not overtly spiritual but he lived by conviction, fairness, and a deep commitment to serving his family. A friend of animals, especially dogs, Jim could conduct family pet funerals like a man with a calling. He was a fixer: Whether assisting his elderly mother in living to age 101; helping his kids with relocation around the western U.S.; fixing a granddaughter’s broke-down classic ’50s T-Bird just in time for a parade; or supporting his son through recovery from a near-fatal illness, Jim was the one who was always there for his family when it mattered.
He tended roses passed down from his father’s garden, framed Lola’s artwork, and tackled countless home projects, from bricklaying to custom shelving. He followed national and world news closely and had a long memory for U.S. politics and history. In younger years, he loved fishing and mule-packing trips with longtime friends in the High Sierra, and camping and vacationing with family, from Oregon to Yellowstone.
While he was reserved in many ways, Jim had a true appreciation for life and culture, from nature to artistic beauty, fine dining to midcentury jazz and pop. He was both the family’s caregiver and its chef, often recreating at home his favorite meals from top restaurants he visited around the West Coast. His art form was food. Jim lived modestly and selflessly in service to his family, his community, and his company.
A private service with military honors was held in early July. Jim will be interred at Exeter District Cemetery, where he will be laid to rest beside Lola. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to a preferred animal welfare nonprofit or hospice care provider.