Mrs. Shirley Collins

COLLINS, Mrs. Shirley - Age 90, passed away Monday, February 17, 2025, at Tranquility House in Flint. Family hour 10:00 AM Friday, February 28, 2025, at Vernon Chapel A.M.E. Church, 5802 Dupont St., with funeral service commencing at 11:00 AM. Pastor Douglas Banks, Host Pastor, Rev. Helen Williams, officiating. Interment Sunset Hills Cemetery, G-4413 Flushing Rd. Friends and pallbearers will assemble at the church 10:00 AM Friday, February 28, 2025. Mrs. Collins will lie in state in the Chapel of Lawrence E. Moon Funeral Home, 906 W. Flint Park Blvd., and may be viewed Thursday, February 27, 2025, from 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM, with family present to receive friends from 4:00 PM-6:00 PM. Shirley Mildred Collins, age 90, was called to rest on Monday, February 17, 2025. Born on November 26, 1934, in Flint, Michigan, Shirley was one of seven children born from the union of her parents, Charlie Brady and Fredricka (Freddie) Cook. Shirley was a lifelong member of Vernon Chapel AME Church, where her grandfather, William Frank Cook, Mother, and Aunt, Lara (Cook) Brady, were founders and charter members of the church. Shirley attended Flint Community Schools (Fairview Elementary, Lowell Jr High School) and graduated at 16 years old from Flint Northern High School Class of 1951. Soon after, she attended and graduated with an Associate in Liberal Arts from Flint Junior College in 1953. She continued her education by joining her brother, Alphonso (School of LSA Alumni 1955), at the University of Michigan to attend the School of Nursing, where she earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1957. Her nursing career began at Hurley Hospital, followed by a role as a school nurse with Flint Community Schools for the City of Flint Health Department. In August 1961, Shirley married Bunice K. Collins at Vernon Chapel AME Church. They welcomed two children, Charles and Bethany, before returning to the University of Michigan to attend graduate school to earn her Master of Public Health at the suggestion of her cousin Myrtle Fryer (MPH University of Michigan Alumni 1956). She graduated in 1966 and continued her work with the City of Flint Health Department until she left in 1979 as a Public Health Nurse Supervisor. Shirley returned to Hurley Medical Center later that year until her retirement as the Director of Ambulatory Care Clinics in 1996. During her tenure at Hurley, she became an entrepreneur like her mother and started Collins Home Nursing Service (CHNS) in 1985; as the Executive Director of CHNS, she provided skilled nursing care and other health services to patients after being released from the hospital and operating for 15 years. Never one to stay idle, she later was the Director of the Flint Family Road program until her final retirement in 2001. Shirley cherished her family and considered her wonderful parents and her children her proudest accomplishments. She loved attending University of Michigan homecoming football games and was an avid tennis player. Shirley enjoyed traveling the world with her family, exploring the Caribbean, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. An active member of her community, she enjoyed dining at Applewood Café and was a charter member of the Flint Snowbirds Ski Club; as an avid skier, she attended her first trip to the National Brotherhood Snowsports (NBS) Ski Summit in 1993 in Vail, Colorado. She was also a member of Zonta I of Flint, the Flint Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, the American Public Health Association, the St. John Street Memorial Society, and the University of Michigan Alumni Association. Shirley Collins is survived by: her son, Charles (Sheri) Collins, and daughter, Bethany; brother, Delano (Sandy) Brady; nieces and nephews, Diane Miles, Duane Brady, Jeremy (Therese) Brady, Mary Guy-Brady, Shawn Coffey, and Fawn (Bobby) Ukpolo Champagne; cousins, Lara Nkume, Bernadine Grier, William Cook, Maurice (Jackie) Fielder, Diane James; a host of other relatives,: Amanda (Vonte) Riley, Alexandra Brady, Vernice Brady, Morris Vernon Brady III, Derron Brady, Antwane Holbrook, Jarmar Miles, Jaron Miles, Sara (Mads) Haubro, Oyan Battaglia, Marvin Martinuzzi, Natalie Brady, Ako Nkume, Adama Nkume, Aham (Scarlette) Nkume, and Tamikia Willams Shirley was preceded in death by her parents; father of her children, Bunice K. Collins; siblings, twins, Lester and Chester; sister, Blondel; brothers, Morris Vernon Brady (Margie), Alphonso (Natividad) Brady; cousins, Bernice Brady, Mable Grier, Della Fielder, and Lawerance Williams; uncles and aunts, Thomas and Lara Brady, George M. Cook, Woodward (Lula) Cook, and Bertha Brady; and nephews, Morris Vernon Brady Jr., Ken Brady. The family would like ot express special thanks to: Tranquility House of Flint, MI, DeShawna Billington – CNA, Melissa – CNA at Zari’s Loving Touch, Dr. Towfig and Staff, Hurley Medical Center Retiaries, Cook Missionary Society at Vernon Chapel AME Church.

Mrs. Shirley Collins

November 26, 1934 - February 17, 2025