Donald Collins (Maine politician) explained

Donald Collins
State Senate:Maine
District:2nd
Term Start:December 1986
Term End:December 1992
Successor:Leo Kieffer
State Senate1:Maine
District1:31st
Term Start1:December 1976
Term End1:December 1978
Predecessor1:Hayes Gahagan
Office2:Member of the
Maine House of Representatives
from Aroostook
Term Start2:December 1970
Term End2:December 1972
Birth Name:Donald Frederick Collins
Birth Date:30 November 1925
Birth Place:Caribou, Maine, U.S.
Death Place:Caribou, Maine, U.S.
Party:Republican
Children:6, including Susan
Alma Mater:University of Maine (BA)
Allegiance: United States
Branch:United States Army
Serviceyears:1943–1946
Rank:Sergeant
Battles:World War II
Mawards: Bronze Star Medal
Purple Heart (2)

Donald Frederick Collins (November 30, 1925 – March 10, 2018)[1] was an American politician from Maine. Collins, a Republican from Caribou, Aroostook County, served 5 terms in the Maine Legislature between 1970 and 1992. He also served as mayor of Caribou.

In 1970, Collins was elected to the Maine House of Representatives, and served a single term. In 1976, Collins was elected to his first, two-year term in the Maine Senate. Running again in 1986, Collins was re-elected, serving three more terms in the Maine Senate, retiring in 1992 from elected office.[2]

Background and Family

Donald Collins was the father of United States Senator Susan Collins.[3] His brother, Samuel W. Collins Jr., sat on the Maine Supreme Judicial Court from 1988 to 1994 and served in the Maine Senate from 1972 to 1984. He was one of four children in his family and had six children. Collins was born in Caribou, Maine. He served in the United States Army during World War II, receiving a Bronze Star for heroism, and a Purple Heart with an Oak Leaf Cluster, after being wounded twice in the Battle of the Bulge. Collins went to the University of Maine. He worked in the family lumber business, established by his great-great grandfather, Samuel Collins, in 1844.[4]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Donald Collins - Mockler Funeral Home. mocklerfuneralhome.com. 13 March 2018. en-gb. https://web.archive.org/web/20180313214354/http://mocklerfuneralhome.com/component/memorials/item/878.html. 13 March 2018. dead.
  2. Web site: Legislators Biographical Search. Maine State Law and Legislative Reference Library. 14 December 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20150201040243/http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/lawlib/legbiog/webform1.aspx. 1 February 2015. dead.
  3. News: Politics: The family business. Ting. Dennis. March 3, 2014. CNN. 14 December 2014.
  4. News: Donald Collins, father of Sen. Susan Collins, dies at 92. Burns. Christopher. March 11, 2018. Bangor Daily News. 11 March 2018.