Margery Theobald Collins

Margery Theobald Collins Marge Collins, long-time Palo Alto educator and community leader, died on October 27. She was treated for peritoneal cancer for nearly four years. Despite her illness, she and her husband, Tom, continued to travel with a trip to Europe, two trips to see family and friends in the Midwest, and five trips to visit their daughter and family in Austin, Texas. Marge graduated from Manilla High School, Manilla, Iowa in 1950, where she was the valedictorian of her class. She spent two years at The University of Northern Iowa and then received her undergraduate degree from Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. After coming to California, Marge earned two Master's Degrees from San Jose State University. Literacy and reading were pillars of her professional and personal life. Marge taught first grade and worked as a literacy specialist in the Palo Alto Unified School District since 1965. Before that, she taught first grade in Indianapolis and Hammond, Indiana and in Mapleton, Iowa. During her years in Palo Alto, Marge served as president of the American Association of University Women, president of Neighbors Abroad, and board member of the United Nations Association, Environmental Volunteers, Palo Alto Historical Association, and advisory board member for the Palo Alto Historical Museum and Gamble Garden. She was a Tall Tree recipient in 1994 and A Friend of Education in 2006. Marge was preceded in death by her parents, Edward and Theresa Nickelsen Theobald and two infant brothers. She is survived by her husband of 55 years, Tom Collins; daughter, Dr. Ann Collins Johns, her husband, Hilary Johns, and two grandsons, William Thomas and Nicholas Edward Johns of Austin, Texas; brother, William Theobald, his wife, Ellyn and son Robert Edward Theobald of Troy, Missouri; her West Coast family, Renee Richards, husband John Hill, and son James Lucien Hill of San Francisco, and many close family members and friends. Marge was born in Manilla, Iowa on November 12, 1932. She grew up on a part of a large family farm homesteaded by her great-grandfather in 1871. This love of the land and of the small town where her mother was born never waned and in recent years, she has written three histories; one of her paternal great-grandfather, Patriarch of the Valley; one of her mother's life in small-town Iowa, Stirring Memories; and one of her paternal grandparents and their family of nine children, The Theobalds of Evergreen Farm. Graveside services and internment will be in the Nishnabotna Cemetery with her family, not far from the family farm. The stone is inscribed: We come and go, but the land is always there. Willa Cather Throughout the years, Tom and Marge shared their love of traveling on many trips to Europe, Africa, New Zealand, the Caribbean, Mexico, and across the United States and all of the provinces of Canada. On these trips they often searched for family history and visited most of the sites of their great grandparents' births. Presidential history was another subject of high interest and they spent time investigating nearly forty sites across the United States. Often accompanying them would be one of their beloved dogs, usually a Gordon Setter. Their Palo Alto backyard served as a spot for many parties for friends over the years. For ten years, they hosted a weekend Halloween costume party for friends at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park. In lieu of flowers, a donation can be made in Marge's memory to Marge Collins Memorial Fund in care of Palo Alto Unified School District, 25 Churchill Ave. Palo Alto, CA 94306 at wwwpausd.org, The Palo Alto Historical Museum at Museum@PAHistoryMuseum.org or the Manilla Area Historical Association at MAHA 412 9th Avenue, Manilla, Iowa 51454. Pallbearers: Hilary Johns Will Johns Nick Johns Bob Theobald Jim Croxdale John Hill Alterates Jim Richards Robert Theobald Hymn's Amazing Grace #378 In the Garden #314 I love to tell the story #156