Ethel Collins

Ethel Lucille Collins was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and friend. She passed away on July 27, 2023, at the age of 84, in Roanoke, Virginia.

Lucille grew up in Bull Creek, West Virginia, with her parents, Claude and Margaret Stepp and her ten siblings, Maxine Allen, Dorothy Cline, Beulah Harman, Charlene Allen Emily, Millie Stepp Blankenship, Ruth Lester, Ellamae Stepp, Dewey Stepp, Claude Stepp Jr., William Filmore “Bill” Stepp, and Harvey Stepp. She graduated from Laeger High School and obtained her college education at Concord University and Pikeville College. She taught elementary education at Mckinnley School and Garden Elementary School for a combined 42 years. In recognition of her many years of service as an educator in the community, Lucille recently served as the honorary guest speaker at the dedication ceremony for a monument honoring the remembrance of Garden Elementary School. Lucille married George Collins in 1957. She was an active member of Green Ridge Baptist Church and proclaimed her faith to all. She had the uncanny ability to connect deeply with anyone she met, and she used this talent to inspire those around her. She built a beautiful and loving family, and she will live on through the hearts and memories of those she touched.

Lucille is survived by her sons, George Robert Collins and Claude Riley Collins; nine grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

Family, friends, and all others who loved her are invited to the Appalachian College of Pharmacy in Oakwood, Virginia at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, July 30, 2023, for a service to celebrate her life.

In lieu of flowers, in accordance with Lucille’s wishes, the family requests donations be made to Green Ridge Baptist Church in Roanoke, Virginia to be used to provide school supplies for local children in need.