Penfield David Collins Obituary (1917 - 2008)

Penfield David Collins ROY - Penfield David Collins, 91, passed away Tuesday, August 12, 2008 gently and peacefully at Heritage Park Care Center. He was born May 18, 1917 in Seattle, Washington to John Frederick and Grace Chloe Penfield Collins. Brother Frank came later. Their hillside home overlooked Lake Union and Boeing's first red barn factory which made some of the first pontoon bi-planes on the market. They really were fun to see land and take off on the lake! Pen often had to walk to Fisherman's Warf to pick up a large fish, often Salmon, for dinner. He ran a bicycle paper route. He and Frank always walked to school, in Pen's case, even when studying at Washington University's College of Engineering for his Bachelors Degree. Pen got a student deferment from the WWII draft to finish that degree at the last of December 1941. By January 1942 he was in boot camp at Fort Lewis, Washington, which he emerged from as a second lieutenant who promptly shipped to the South Pacific as an artillery battery commander. He set up harbor defenses at Bora Bora Island near Tahiti. After a time the Army gathered up all its engineers from whatever units they were in and formed its famous Corps of Engineers. Pen became part of this and shifted to the Fly River area of New Guinea, and other far South Pacific Areas building air strips, roads, and sometimes buildings. His father died in this time, his mother later. Today Pen's wife Joyce H. Collins, brother, Frank and his wife; a nephew and two nieces: sons, Davy and Reed Collins, daughter, Christine M. Arguello; and Mike Hollenbeck; three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren all survive Pen. He finally returned home with the war's end. His DAR mother and her sisters gave a large formal party to the returnees with all their daughters present. He caught a Sergeant in the restroom and said, "Sarge, this looks like a trap to me! Are you going to get caught?" "No, Sir!" "Me neither!" The lady who caught Pen's eye, and him, was Janet Reed. They picked out a battered house in a nice neighborhood in Berkeley, CA, and Pen totally fixed it up. He even built a fireplace just for her. The man maintained all his houses himself. Pen loved to work wood, and always had quite a complete workshop in his basement. Their first child, Davy came along. The boy needed a bit of medical help, so they sold the house at profit and moved to the Midwest, eventually settling in St. Louis, MO, where both spent a lot of the rest of their life. A second son Reed, came along, but presently Janet and Pen divorced, Reed staying with him. Father and son lived at various places in the area, but one in a country locale and another in Kirkwood were favorites. At the country place a Border collie would walk to each house on the lane on school days, collecting every child and shepherding them all to the school bus. After classes she would meet the bus and escort each child home! The Kirkwood house had a nice basement where Reed and his pals took apart and rebuilt a Harley. By the time the boys finished it, Reed was old enough to ride it. Pen was a Chemical Engineer, and a very excellent one! In school he studied Math, Chemistry and Physics. He could pick out just the right materials and figure exactly what to do with them so they'd be just right for most any job any person wanted to get done. Mostly the company Pen worked at sold things or designed manufacturing processes for other companies, as well as his own. His company refined oil in Berkeley, and in St. Louis with Monsanto Chemicals, then IT&T. Once Pen even designed and oversaw the building of and entire plant in West Virginia. Pen advised companie's all over the world in places like Japan, Hong Kong, Mexico and Brazil. In Brazil, for a vacation Pen once flew to the Amazon River's headwaters and rode a boat all the way back to the city he was working in! For recreation, apart from woodworking, Pen loved being outdoors. As teens, he and brother Frank would ride to the edge of the Cascade Mountains, spend a couple of weeks hiking through them, and meet their Dad on the other side. Once their small dog was with them. He chased a little cub, suddenly noticing Ma Bear barreling down the mountain right at him. The dog headed into the glacial river, fast! He hid behind a big, foaming boulder. Pen finally had to wade in and fetch him, then hug him close even after they got to camp and went to bed, because the dog was so cold. Pen loved classical music, jazz, going to theater and musicals, and being at small dinner parties with close friends. As he shipped home from the Pacific, the Army gave him literature about different religious denominations. What he read of the Unitarian Universalist Church impressed him, and that church and its activities was important ever after. Pen taught Sunday School in Berkeley, and chose to again in St. Louis. Three gals walked in the church door. One impressed him, and as Sunday School Director she soon became his boss. Later her husband died; Joyce Hollenbeck became the love of Pen's life and they married February 10, 1973. They were in St. Louis some years, moved to Sequim, WA for ten years, then returned to St. Louis. They stayed lovebirds who inspired many others right up until Pen's death. The two converted a Ford van to a camper and traveled most of the west, and good few other places. They drove and later cruised to Alaska. One time early on they cruised the Caribbean; Pen wanted Joyce, big time photographer, to experience the light in the tropics! He spent hours reading in the car while she took a picture. Eventually he made three built-in darkrooms for her. All in all, in his 91 years Pen lived a rich full life. Often he could be blunt and brusque, unintentionally hurting others. Even so, he was loving, cared about, and respected people. And he was a real gentleman! Funeral services will be held Monday, August 18, 2008 at 10:00 a.m. at Myers Roy Mortuary, 5865 South 1900 West. Family and friends may gather on Monday from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. prior to services. Interment, Utah Veterans Memorial Park in South Salt Lake Valley. VisitationMyers Mortuary - Roy 5865 South 1900 West Roy, UT 84067 August 18, 2008 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM ServiceMyers Mortuary - Roy 5865 South 1900 West Roy, UT 84067 August 18, 2008 10:00 AM CemeteryUtah Veterans Memorial Park 17111 So. Camp Williams Bluffdale, UT August 18, 2008