Estelle Tidwell Collins passed away Sunday, September 15, 2024, with the loving care of family and Brightmoor Nursing Home and Hospice, at a spry age of 102.
She was born in Marion County, Alabama on February 28, 1922 to Clovis A. Tidwell and Mary Elizabeth “Lizzie” Pollard Tidwell. She joined the US Army Marine Corps during WWII and trained and served in the medical field as a surgical technician stationed at Walter Reed Hospital in D.C. and later at Aubrey General Hospital in Augusta. After discharge she entered the Reserves and later was called back to service at the beginning of the Korean War, stationed at Fort Gallium.
She met her husband, Robert F “Bob” Collins a Navy man from Manchester, Georgia, on a Greyhound bus. After marriage, they had a daughter Marcia and made dear friends everywhere they lived. Living the longest in Fayette County, you would find them, the McClanahans, Kimbells, and Vinings helping each other & the community. Friends and family were always vital to Estelle and Bob. Estelle loved her extended family & kept in touch with them. She learned to be a beautician, flower arranger, & baker. Later she served with the American Society for Breast Cancer where she would be asked by doctors to visit their patients in the hospitals to share her story. She was feisty and not afraid to tackle projects. She loved to study the Bible and be a part of Sunday School. In her later years she was a part of The Lambs Class at Wolsey Baptist in Fayette Co.
She is preceded in death by her immediate family: husband; parents; brothers, Harold (Sue) and Rex Tidwell; sister-in-law, Marlene (Mercer) Baker; Vermel Osborne, and several beloved nieces & nephews to include Ben Osborne who was as a son to her.
Estelle is survived by her daughter, Marcia Collins; nephews and their families, Barry (Tonya) Tidwell, David Tidwell, Tommy (Sonya) Baker, Cy (Melanie) Baker; as well as Emily Donald, TJ Osborne, Geneva Osborne and their families. We are very grateful for our caregiver and now family Deborah Toney along with, and dear to our hearts, the Brightmoor nurses, caregivers and hospice team nurses.
Visitation will be Wednesday, September 18, 2024, from 10:30 A.M. until 12:00 P.M. at Conner-Westbury Funeral Home. A funeral service will be held Wednesday, September 18, 2024 at 12:00 P.M. in the Chapel at Conner-Westbury. Interment will be in Meriwether Memory Gardens in Manchester, Georgia.Conner-Westbury Funeral Home 1891 W. McIntosh Road in charge of arrangements.
Please join the family and friends in honoring the life of Estelle Tidwell Collins by visiting www.conner-westburyfuneralhome.com and posting your tributes and memories.