Eugene Edward Collins, Sr.

   Eugene Edward Collins Sr., 82, of Portsmouth, passed from his earthly life to an eternal rest on Friday, October 5, 2018 at the SOMC Hospice Center. He was born May 21, 1935 in Winston-Salem, NC, a son of the late James Arthur and Ada Bell Dillard Collins Henderson.

   Eugene was a member of Beulah Baptist Church where he had served as past chairman of the Trustee Board. Shortly after graduating from PHS in 1955, he was employed as a crane operator in the blast furnace at the former Empire-Detroit Steel Corp. from where he retired in 1980. Eugene was then employed as the Deputy Director of the Community Action Organization.. A 50-year Mason of Trinity Lodge #9 in Portsmouth, he had held nearly every elected and appointed office within the lodge. Gene was the chairperson of the Portsmouth Inner City Development Corp. (PIDC), past president of the 14^th Street Community Center, Past President of the local NAACP and was a presenter at the 1983 All-American City Awards for the City of Portsmouth. He was also active in many other organizations and community activities and he was a veteran of the United States Army.

    Surviving is his wife, Sylvia Ann Byrd Collins, whom he married in Portsmouth, July 16, 1960; one son, Eugene E. (Jewell) Collins, Jr. of Portsmouth; one daughter, Anita Maria Goodwin of Portsmouth; one brother, James Collins of Puyallup, WA ; one sister, Pearl (James) Corbitt of Columbus; three grandchildren, Sophia Mount, Jaddah Conteh-Kanu, Len Michael Collins; three great-grandchildren; and many nieces, nephews and cousins.

   Gene was also preceded in death by two sisters, Kathryn Cavanaugh and Brenda Henderson.

   Funeral services will be held Thursday at 11 A.M. at Beulah Baptist Church with Bishop Gonelcha Askew officiating. The family will receive friends at the Ralph F. Scott Funeral Home in Portsmouth Wednesday  from 5 to 8 P.M. and at the church from 10 A.M. until the funeral hour Thursday. Interment will follow in Memorial Burial Park with military graveside rites conducted by the James Dickey Post #23 Honor Detail.

    A Masonic service will be conducted Wednesday at 8 P.M. at the funeral home by Trinity Lodge #9.

   In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to any of the charities listed below.

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