Memorial Will Honor Hometown Hero David Collins

AdminJuly 31, 2015Last Updated: July 31, 2015
3 minutes read
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A combat photo of Navy SEAL, Chief Petty Officer, Dave Collins.

LOCK HAVEN – As part of the upcoming ceremony to honor Clinton County’s Hometown Heroes, the community is also invited to pay special tribute to a fallen local hero. Lock Haven native and retired Navy SEAL, the late David M. Collins, will be remembered with the unveiling of a memorial panel at Veteran’s Park on Water Street in Lock Haven, across the street from the Clinton County Courthouse.

Downtown Lock Haven, Inc., will host the Hometown Hero ceremony at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, August 8, at the J. Doyle Corman amphitheatre along the Susquehanna River in Lock Haven to unveil a new series of streetlight banners in the city’s downtown and along the River’s levee riverwalk. Immediately following the banner ceremony (at approximately 11:30 a.m.), the community is invited across the street to Veterans Park, where the commemorative panel in Collins’ memory will be unveiled.

Chief Petty Officer Collins died in March of last year at the age of 45 as a result of traumatic brain injury and chronic traumatic encephalopathy sustained in combat. His family—wife Jennifer and children Grace and Sam, mother Rose Ann Myers McNerney, brother Tom Collins and sister Lari Ann McNerney—along with other family and friends will be on hand for the panel unveiling.

Lock Haven native and retired Navy SEAL David Collins, his wife Jennifer, and their children, Grace and Sam, before his death last year. As part of the August 8 Hometown Hero celebration in Lock Haven, a memorial panel will be unveiled at Veterans Park as a tribute to Collins and his nearly 25 years of service in the United States Navy.
Lock Haven native and retired Navy SEAL David Collins, his wife Jennifer, and their children, Grace and Sam, before his death last year. As part of the August 8 Hometown Hero celebration in Lock Haven, a memorial panel will be unveiled at Veterans Park as a tribute to Collins and his nearly 25 years of service in the United States Navy.

The idea for the commemorative panel was lovingly developed by several local friends of the Collins family, including Jim Russo from M&R Contracting, Inc., Dave Harger with Harger Utility Contractors, Inc., and former Lock Haven Mayor Rick Vilello, who now serves as executive director of the Governor’s Center for Local Government at the Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development in Harrisburg. Longtime friend and local artist Steve Getz from IF-The Idea Factory, created the panel design. Titled American Hero, the panel features photographs of Collins during his Naval career and an overview of his service history which spanned 25 years.

Vilello will serve as master of ceremonies for the panel unveiling. Collins’ wife Jennifer and his mother, Rose Ann McNerney, are expected to make remarks, as is Rear Admiral Craig S. Faller, Chief of Legislative Affairs for the Secretary of the Navy. Faller is also a keynote speaker for the 10:00 a.m. Hometown Hero banner ceremony. Collins family members, including David Collins’ 10-year-old daughter, Grace, and his seven-year-old son, Sam, will lead in the unveiling of the memorial panel.

Born and raised in Lock Haven, SOC Collins enlisted in the United States Navy shortly after graduation from Lock Haven High School. While the soon-to-be-unveiled memorial chronicles an impressive Navel career, family and friends remember him not only as a fierce patriot who believed in the duty to protect the freedoms we all enjoy but as a true friend who lived his life helping others.

The Clinton County community responded to Collins’ death last year with their own outpouring of kindness; a celebration of life was held in his honor at the Sons of Italy Lodge in Lock Haven and proceeds from a memorial basketball game at Central Mountain Middle School supported the “Children of David Collins Memorial Fund.” This year, Harger Utility Contractors of Lock Haven will honor Collins’ memory at their fourth annual Sporting Clays Tournament on September 12 at Thunder Ridge Sporting Clays in Middlebury Center, PA. The annual event benefits a veteran or their family, with the beneficiary of this year’s tournament being the family of David Collins. More information on the tournament can be found at www.hargerutility.com or on Facebook at /HUCSportingClaysTournament.

David Collins was laid to rest last year at Arlington National Cemetery, the United States Military Cemetery in Virginia. The August 8 ceremony in Lock Haven will be a lasting local tribute in his memory. The memorial will share a space with several other special memorials designed to remember the men and women from Clinton County who served their country with honor.

Although taken a few years ago, many people will recognize the immediate family of Dave Collins, from left, his wife Jennifer of Virginia Beach, VA, holding their son, Sam, Dave, sister Lari Ann McNerney of Johnstown holding Dave and Jennifer’s daughter Grace, Dave’s mother, Rose Ann Myers McNerney of Johnstown, his brother Tom Collins and his wife Barbie, and in front, their daughter Anna, from Stormstown.
Although taken a few years ago, many people will recognize the immediate family of Dave Collins, from left, his wife Jennifer of Virginia Beach, VA, holding their son, Sam, Dave, sister Lari Ann McNerney of Johnstown holding Dave and Jennifer’s daughter Grace, Dave’s mother, Rose Ann Myers McNerney of Johnstown, his brother Tom Collins and his wife Barbie, and in front, their daughter Anna, from Stormstown.
AdminJuly 31, 2015Last Updated: July 31, 2015
3 minutes read
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