Thomas "Tom" Collins
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Thomas "Tom" Collins, age 73, of Hayti, SD, passed away on Thursday, May 6, 2021, at Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, SD. Funeral services will be at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, May 14, 2021, at St. Martin's Lutheran Church in Watertown, SD. Rev. Paul Janke will officiate. Music will be provided by Julie Sulzle as organist. The service will be Live-Streamed. The family is requested to meet by 12:30 p.m. at the church.
Visitation will be at Crawford-Osthus Funeral Chapel on Thursday, May 13, 2021 from 4-7 p.m. and also prior to the service at the church on Friday, May 14, 2021. Face masks are highly encouraged.
Burial will be at Mt. Hope Cemetery. Honorary pallbearers will be his grandchildren, Jeff Brown, Chelsea Brown, Ashley Collins, Brandon Collins, Jack Collins, Lucy Collins, and Jason Zillman. Active pallbearers are Todd Collins, Troy Collins, Jordan Collins, Donnie Eilers, Cody Kenyon, and Keith Palo.
Tom was born on March 16, 1948, to Lloyd and Monica (Roggenbuck) Collins, in Milbank, SD. He was raised on a farm in Vernon Township in Grant County. They moved to the family farm in Portland Township in Deuel County the fall of 1958. Tom went to a country school thru 5th grade, when the school closed, he then went to Revillo School. After graduating from high school, he worked for his brother Jim at Jim's Service Station in Revillo and then at Magic Mile Texaco in Watertown, before beginning his career at the SD DOT for 44 years, retiring as a Lead Highway Maintenance Worker in 2014. He also worked for Lakness Farms.
While in high school, Tom fell in love with Trnnis Switzenberg, whom he married on July 2, 1966, and they were able to enjoy 48 years of marriage together. They were blessed with three children, Michael, Dondrea and Travis. The family lived near Revillo for a short time and then Watertown for five years. In 1973 they made their final move to a small farm acreage west of Hayti, SD.
Tom was a past member of Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Grover. He was currently a member of St. Martin's Lutheran Church. He enjoyed raising a variety of farm animals and always had a big garden. Tom enjoyed lawn mowing and took pride in having a well-kept yard. He enjoyed spending time with family and visiting with friends, attending threshing shows and 50's and 60's Rock-n-Roll music, especially Elvis Presley. In recent years, the biggest highlights for Tom were getting to spend time with his two young grandchildren Jack and Lucy along with spending time with his siblings on Thursdays at their family farm.
Tom is survived by his children: Michael (Cheryl) Collins of Hayti, SD, Dondrea Brown (Steve Mosser) of Apple Valley, MN and Travis (Kelly) Collins of Moorhead, MN; seven grandchildren; his brothers: James (Donna) Collins, Ron (Janet) Collins, John Collins, all of Revillo, SD, Denny (Lorraine) Collins of Stockholm, SD and Bruce Collins of Fargo, ND; one sister, Judy Peterson of Milbank, SD; and brothers-in-law, Tom Parquet of Midland, SD and Kevin "Billy" Switzenberg of Clear Lake, SD.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Trnnis; his parents; his sister, Mary Parquet; his sister-in-law, Rulett "Dolly" Adolph; and brothers-in-law, Tom Peterson, Melvin "Pete" Adolph, and Jerome "Jerry" Switzenberg.
Arrangements by Crawford-Osthus Funeral Chapel Watertown, De Smet, Bryant and Hayti
www.crawfordosthus.com