AMHERST - The tributes are pouring in for the woman who fostered a love of curling in six-time Canadian and two-time world champion Colleen Jones.
Marlene Collins passed away Sunday in Amherst following a lengthy illness. She was 77.
"Marlene used to take us on the ice all the time and show us the delivery and all that stuff. She was very gregarious and outgoing. She made it sound so much fun that you couldn't help get caught up in her enthusiasm," Jones said Monday. "She was a big reason why, as a young kid at the club, that I liked it right away."
Before her death, Collins and her husband, Eanis, were active in the Amherst Curling Club and Amherst Golf Club. Collins was also a volunteer treasurer and staff member with Sport Nova Scotia.
"She was a major source of enthusiasm for sport and was instrumental in creating the organization that Sport Nova Scotia has become," the organization's CEO, Jamie Ferguson, said. "She knew that sport can make a positive difference in each person's life."
After retiring from Sport Nova Scotia, she was one of only three Nova Scotians to receive an honourary membership in the organization. She was also Nova Scotia's representative on the National Advisory Council on Fitness and Amateur Sport from 1975 to 1980 and was named Sport Nova Scotia Executive of the Year in 1975.
She was a past-president and charter member of the Mayflower Curling Club in Halifax.
Amherst Curling Club president Brian Trenholm said her positive presence will be sorely missed.
"She was the type of person who always pitched in when help was needed," Trenholm said.
Visitation is Tuesday at the Furlong-Jones Funeral Home, with a memorial service Wednesday at the funeral home at 1 p.m.
dcole@amherstdaily.com
Former world curling champion pays tribute to Collins
-
Published on
February 24, 2009
- Published on January 3, 2010
-
Darrell Cole
- Rate
- Top of the page
