Shirley Jean (Peters) Collins

Published 11:46 am Wednesday, January 15, 2025

Shirley Jean (Peters) Collins, 81, of Williamsport, Ind., went home to be with the Lord at 5:55 p.m. on Sunday, January 12, 2025, at Williamsport Nursing and Rehabilitation with family at her side.

Jean was born on August 18, 1943 in Klamath Falls, Ore. She was the daughter of Fred and Dawn (Berry) Peters. 

Jean was a 1961 graduate of Henley High School in Klamath County, Ore. She later graduated from Ivy Tech College in 1992. Jean lived in Oregon until moving to Villages of Indiana Group Home in 1984 where she lived for four years. She moved to the Dominican Republic where she did ministry work. When she returned to the states she lived in Bristol, Tenn., and Virginia doing ministry work for King Pharma. Jean then moved to Pearlington, Miss., to live near her family. She later moved with them to West Lebanon, Ind., in September of 2022.

Jean married Charles I. Collins and they later divorced. She was a member of the West Lebanon Christian Church. Jean was baptized on October 29, 1950 at the First Christian Church in Klamath Falls, Ore. Jean wrote articles for the At Your Service column from 1988 until 1992 for the Times-Mail newspaper in Bedford, Ind. She later worked at Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center.

Jean collected kaleidoscopes and loved puppets. She was an avid reader and a master gardener in four states: Indiana, Virginia, Tennessee, and Mississippi. Jean had a heart for ministry and over the years she fostered nearly 100 children in Oregon and Indiana.

Surviving are four children, Dan Collins of Klamath Falls, Ore., Dave Collins of Peoria, Ariz., Jon Collins (Kim) of West Lebanon, Ind., and Jeanne Curtis (Jeff) of Elizabethton, Tenn.; one brother, Roger Peters (Carol) of Phoenix, Ariz.; two sisters, Dawn Grace Renshaw of Villa De Leiva Boyaca, Columbia, and Jaquie Johnson (Steve) of Vancouver, Wash.; her step-mother, Wynema Peters of Bend, Ore.; 11 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

Jean was preceded in death by her parents; brother, Steve Peters; sister, Wanda Hestian; grandson, Scott Collins; and granddaughters, Hope and Whitney Collins.

Services were conducted in West Lebanon, Ind., January 15. Services will be conducted January 18 in Klamath Falls, Ore., with interment at Mt. Laki Cemetery in Lost River, Ore. Online condolences may be made at www.gradyfuneralhome.com.