Obituary of Charlotte Helen Collins

Charlotte Helen Collins, was born Oct 10, 1921, three weeks short of her 103 birthday, her prayers were answered and is now with her Lord and Savior.   During these last few years Charlotte has said “I like to nap because I‘ve asked the Lord to take me in my sleep and that gives Him lots of chances to come and get me.”  Her family is comforted to know that she is now home in Heaven.

Charlotte’s mother emigrated from England in 1908, married Harry Moses and together they had 5 children. Due to medical complications from surgery, Harry was very unwell. Charlotte’s mother decided to take him and 3 children back to England for medical help. After he died there, her mother and children returned to Canada and settled in the Saskatoon area.

 She had finished Grade 9 and 10 by correspondence and at the age of 16 her mother remarried and told Charlotte she was on her own.  She started house cleaning, earning board and room at $5 a month.  She worked for 4 months at $5 a month but didn’t get paid until she left and she got $20 all at once.  Later she worked in Gale’s Bookstore for $8/month plus board and room. When she was 18 years she got a job housekeeping for the Collins’ in Kerrobert. 

In 1942 she married Charlie Collins and they started farming near Kerrobert. In the spring of 1947 they were invited to house meeting where a group from the Eston Bible School were sharing. Charlie and Charlotte both accepted Jesus, their lives radically changed and throughout their life they endeavored to make Him Lord of their lives.

In 1949 they moved to Outram, Sask. where they farmed for 33 years while raising 3 boys and 3 girls. They were active in the Outram Sunday School, Trossachs Camp and attended church in Estevan on Sunday evenings. Mom always said the Outram community was a great place to live because of the wonderful neighborhood. Three times the neighborhood came to their rescue: the first was a threatening prairie fire, second - when cattle went through the ice on the dugout and last - the time of Dad’s eye accident in 1964.

In 1958 Dad’s parents, William and Elizabeth Collins came to live with the family. This was when running water was put into the house. Elizabeth was a diabetic, had both legs amputated, and had had a stroke, leaving her paralyzed on her left side.  Dad converted the living room of the house into a suite for his parents, while Mom cared for them. Charlotte took it all in stride while managing to raise  5 of her kids aged 2, 8,10,12 and 15.

They lived on the Outram farm for 33 years and after Ed took over the farm in 1982 they moved to an acreage just south of Estevan. Here they enjoyed 18 years of retirement. Charlie did a lot of building in his shop and Charlotte put on the final touches. Their family and friends spent hours on the Boundary Dam on their homebuilt houseboat.

Charlie passed away in Jan 2001 after 59 years of marriage.  Charlotte kept the acreage for 3 years. It was during this time that she got a computer and honed in on her writing skills and poetry.  There are many poems that she wrote for special occasions. Granddaughter Kimm published a book with some of her poems.

Charlotte loved to sing, read her Bible, write poetry, quilt and quote scripture. Hospitality was her gift and she loved helping others wherever she saw a need.

After 3 years alone on the acreage, Charlotte moved into Sussex Arms in Estevan where she continue to be very active. She helped with English as a second language and would get groceries for someone who couldn’t shop on their own.

In 2010 she moved to Regina to be closer to her family. Storie Manor was home for the next 10 years. During this time, she gave up her driver’s license. She felt the price to license her vehicle was too high when she didn’t drive much.

Then came 2020 bringing COVID. Life became more difficult so at the age of 99, she accepted a room at Qu’Appelle House. She loved getting her meals and laundry done and felt like she was being pampered. Unfortunately, in 2021 she had 2 falls resulting in 2 hospitalizations, surgery and then a 3 month stay at Wascana Rehab.

After an eleven month stay at Parkside Special Care Home she moved to William Booth Special Care Home. Here she remained loving the care she received and staying in touch with family through visits and her facetime portal. She gave us a 4 day notice that she would be departing and many family members came to say their goodbyes.

She will be sorely missed but will be forever loved by her 6 children, Wayne (Bonnie), Ed (Shirley), Sharon (Martin), Glenn (Val Kowlachuk), Shirley (Rod), Elva (Steve), 17 grandchildren: Cheri Wilkins, Kimm Reid, Quinn (Rachel) Collins, Cindy (Darryl) Tunall, Chad (Andrea) Collins, Cam (Cassie) Collins, Dustin (Kyla) Tracy, Yolanda (Jon) Maat, Glendyne (Jeremiah), Reinmiller, Curtus (Michelle) Collins, Tera (Dan) Codling, Tanis Young, Tyson (Allison) Baergen, Aaron (Ashley) Brisbois, Colin (Nicole) Brisbois, Kyle (Alli) Brisbois, Alyssa Brisbois, 36 great grandchildren and in-laws and 11 great, great grandchildren,  I sister in law, Grace Anderson of Campbell River, B.C

If friends so desire, in place of flowers, donations may be made to Eston College. Ways of giving are on website www.estoncollege.ca/give