Obituary of Donald Eugene Collins

Don Collins, a Meade County native whose 30-year journalism career took him from Western Kentucky's student newspaper, the College Heights Herald , to USA TODAY, died at his home in Herndon, Va., late Sunday night, June 13, after a long battle with cancer. He was 55. Collins was a member of the founding staff of USA TODAY, and spent nearly a quarter-century with what now is the nation's largest-circulation daily paper. His pride in that job was spelled out on his personalized Virginia license plates: USAT-SPT. He retired in 2007. Throughout a life that began in rural Kentucky and reached to Mississippi, Arkansas and ultimately the area of the nation's capital, where USA TODAY is headquartered, Mr. Collins wore all of his passions on his sleeve -- for college basketball's Kentucky Wildcats, whom he adopted at an early age; for Western Kentucky, where he earned a journalism degree in 1976; for baseball's St. Louis Cardinals, whom he cheered through eight National League pennants and four World Series championships; for his wife of more than 18 years, Cheryl, and particularly in later years for the Southview Baptist Church in Herndon and his church family there. He also was an avid softball player. A graduate of Meade County High School, he launched his career as a reporter and editor at Western Kentucky University -- where he said he "learned to be a journalist" -- and a scholarship in his name has been established at the university for fulltime students who work for the Herald . A memorial service will be held June 18 at 7pm at the Southview Baptist Church ( http://www.southview.org ) , where Collins served as the chairman of deacons and for the past three years as assistant to the pastor. A memorial service will be scheduled in Brandenburg, KY, at a later date. Surviving him are his wife, Cheryl; his mother, Mary Collins of Brandenburg; sister Beverly Engle of Brandenburg and brother David Collins of Indianapolis; nieces and nephews Jessica and Tyler Burnett, Geoffrey, Christopher, Matthew and Emily Evans; great-niece Elisia Burnett; father- and-mother-in-law Billy and Kittye Jo Evans of Fordyce, Ark., and brother-in-law Curtis Evans and his wife, Melissa, of North Muskegon, Mich. He was preceded in death by his father, Cleo Collins. In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial to the Don Collins Journalism Scholarship at Western Kentucky University ( http://www.wku.edu ). Recipients of this scholarship will be full-time students who work for the College Heights Herald , the on-campus student publication. Don credited the experience he received with the Herald as the place where he "learned to be a journalist" and it seems a fitting way to honor him. Contributions made be sent to College Heights Foundation (designate Don Collins Journalism Scholarship on the memo line), c/o Leslie Watkins, Senior Director of Development, Wetherby Administration Building, 119, WKU, 1906 College Heights Boulevard. #11005, Bowling Green, KY 42101-1005. Gifts made also be made online via the WKU website ( http://www.wku.edu ).