This is a memorial only. This is my great aunt. Her ashes will be scattered at a private location when her husband joins her on the other side of the veil.

Rita Regina "Jean" Collins, 82, passed away on Saturday, January 16th after an extended illness from multiple myeloma. Jean was born in the coal-mining city of Shamokin, PA., the eighth of ten daughters of the late Lucas Pasierb and Mary Scoviak Pasierb. Besides living in Bellingham for the past 37 years, Jean and husband Leroy also lived in Ocean View, DE, Fairhope, AL, and Yeadon, PA. She and Leroy also wintered in Cancun, Mexico the past 15 years which was a great source of enjoyment to her and provided her with many new friends from across the country and Mexico. Jean was a dedicated and loving wife and mother, whose greatest joy in life was giving love and providing for the happiness and well-being of her husband, children and grandchildren, as well as her friends and relatives. Jean was also famous for her cooking, her sense of fashion and style, friendliness, and love of life. Anyone who ever met Jean liked her immediately and had their lives enriched by the experience. She was a strong, determined woman who fought the good fight against her illness in her last days. Jean is survived by her exceptionally devoted and loving husband of 60 years, Leroy N. Collins; a daughter Carol J. Wight and son-in-law Steven Wight of Bellingham, WA; a son Michael Collins and daughter-in-law Carolyn Collins of Hendersonville, NC; four grandchildren: Lucas Wight and Eric Wight of Bellingham, WA, Lauren Collins of Bristol, CT and Jessica Collins of High Point, NC; four sisters: Marie Scandal, Bobbe Pasierb, Shirley Pasierb of Shamokin, PA and Delores Shomper of Harrisburg, PA; seven in-laws: John and Grace Collins of Wenonah, NJ, Eli Collins and Virginia of Seaford, DE, Lewis Collins of Seaford, DE, Wanda Conley of Berlin, MD, and Donald and Janice Collins of Clarksville, DE.; and twenty-one nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her sisters Florence Lebosky, Clara Miner, Dorothy Jaffre, Theresa Albertini, and Helen Shaffer. The family would like to thank the staff at the Lynden Christian Healthcare's Rehabilitation Center for their extraordinary care and compassion during Jean's last days. Jean has been cremated by Moles Family Funeral Home. A memorial service and celebration of Jean's life is scheduled for Saturday, February 27th at 2 o'clock at Moles Family Funeral Home in Bellingham. The family wishes that contributions be made to Lynden Christian Healthcare's Rehabilitation Center, 255 Aaron Drive, Lynden, WA 98264, in lieu of flowers. You may share your thoughts and memories of Jean on the online memorial guestbook at www.molesfuneralhomes.com Moles Family Funeral Homes, Bayview Chapel, Bellingham

~Bellingham Herald, The (WA) - Thursday, January 21, 2010