Edith Collins Obituary

Edith M. (Edie) Collins died on September 12, 2025, at age 88 after a gradual decline following a number of health challenges. Edie was born in West Lafayette, Indiana, on February 18, 1937, the oldest of three children born to William McFadden and Glenora English McFadden. Throughout her life, Edie raised three children, brought her skills as a teacher and musician to numerous communities, and strived to live in harmony with her commitments to democracy, peace, and justice.

Edie's family moved frequently when she was young, living in Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. She graduated from high school in Monte Vista, Colorado, in 1954, and earned a prestigious Boettcher Scholarship to attend the University of Denver, where she pursued a liberal arts degree with an emphasis on organ and Spanish.

Following her graduation in 1958, Edie married Donald (Don) Collins, whom she had met in high school in Monte Vista. They lived in Denver, and Edie taught English and Spanish at Smiley Junior High School while Don attended Iliff Theological Seminary. They moved to Bemidji, Minnesota in 1962, then relocated to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in 1966. While in Oshkosh, Edie served three terms on the Oshkosh Area School Board and served as board President. Later she returned to teaching, working as a Spanish teacher at Oshkosh North High School and Oshkosh West High School.

Edie and Don left Oshkosh in 1987 and spent ten years living in the Milwaukee area, where Edie taught Spanish at Whitefish Bay Middle School. In 1997, Edie and Don returned to Colorado, living in Bailey for ten years before moving to the newly-opened Wind Crest Senior Living Community in Highlands Ranch.

Edie's strong belief in the value of education extended into her retirement years, when she played a key role in the creation of the Wind Crest Learners program, which provides peer?taught courses on a wide range of subjects to residents at Wind Crest. She taught hundreds of community members in her very popular Great Decisions class over the years, facilitating discussions about pressing issues facing the United States and the world.

In addition to her work as a teacher, Edie had a lifelong passion for music. Building on her undergraduate training as an organist, she taught piano to area children in her home in Oshkosh for many years. She served as organist at numerous churches including Algoma Boulevard United Methodist Church, Church of the Good Hope United Methodist Church, Deer Park United Methodist Church, and St. Laurence Episcopal Church. She brought her organ and piano talents to Wind Crest, playing occasionally for religious services there.

Edie felt strongly about the importance of practicing democracy at the local and national levels. In addition to serving in elected positions on the school board in Oshkosh and on the Resident Advisory Council at Wind Crest, she volunteered as a poll worker for many years and helped organize candidate forums, information sessions, and other activities designed to promote citizen engagement in the democratic process. She was especially committed to social justice issues including peace and reconciliation, poverty reduction, racial justice, and women's rights.

Edie was fortunate to have the opportunity to travel extensively to Europe, China, Costa Rica, Morocco, and Israel/Palestine as well as throughout the United States. She was also an avid reader throughout her life, keeping a journal that documented the hundreds of books she read.

Edie was preceded in death by her husband Don (d. 2022) and is survived by her sister Margaret McFadden (Chapel Hill, North Carolina); brother Dave McFadden (Fairfield, Connecticut); son Dave and daughter-in-law Ginny (Woodbury, Minnesota); daughter Sara (Woodbury, Minnesota); son John and daughter-in-law Marina (Madrid, Spain), and five grandchildren: Grace, DeShawn, Adam (spouse Elise), Owen, and Kyle.

A celebration of Edie's life will be held at Wind Crest on November 8, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. Memorial gifts are welcome in Edie's name to the American Friends Service Committee, Heifer International, and the American Civil Liberties Union