An Officer and a Gentleman: LeRoy Collins, Jr.

LeRoy Collins, Jr.

Many news reports about LeRoy Collins, Jr. have focused on the way he died, or the fact he was the son of a famous governor. But Collins was much more than that – a former Navy Admiral, an advocate for veterans, and a committed community volunteer.

Thursday morning, Gov. Charlie Crist delivered the news: Collins, the executive director of the Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs, was killed while riding his bike near downtown Tampa.

Crist appointed the 75-year-old retired Navy admiral to lead Florida’s Department of Veterans’ Affairs in 2007.

Collins is a name known well in Florida history. His father, LeRoy Collins Sr., was governor from 1955 to 1961 and was one of the few southern governors to support the Civil Rights movement.

Susan MacManus, a political science professor and editor with University Press, visited Collins in his Tallahassee office just a few weeks ago to talk about a book he planned to write using articles written by his father.

“I had the pleasure of him showing me a picture of an aircraft carrier that he served on and he told me this story about his dad, the famous governor, flying in a helicopter and coming onto the carrier and telling him that for once, his son knew more than he did about anything. It was really very precious,” she said.

Collins Jr. had a distinguished 34 year career in the U.S. Navy and Navy Reserve. But he’s also remembered by former Florida Gov. Bob Martinez for his civic duty.

“At least among those of us who had the pleasure of knowing him, he was a continuation of his father’s iconic effort to make things better,” Martinez said.

Collins also sat on the board of trustees for the Collins Center for Public Policy – a think tank named after his father and dedicated to resolving civic problems. President Rod Petrey says both Collins Jr. and Sr. shared several characteristics.

“He and his father looked alike, acted alike and both of them had good humor, intellectual honesty and they also were interested in civil discourse, having people talk about big issues in a way where they were not shouting at each other,” he said.

Yet father and son were different politically.

“His father was a Democrat, he was a Republican. But they talked civilly. They got along and the father was so proud of his son, the admiral. Gov. Collins would always just beam when he talked about his son the admiral,” Petrey said.

Admiral Collins focused his interests on community redevelopment and health care, especially when it came to veterans.

Collins ran for US Senate in 2006. He lost in the Republican primary. At the time, he said he was more upset only 20 percent of voters came to the polls.

Collins was also a man who loved the sea and ships. Capt. John Timmel, a Tampa Bay Harbor Pilot and chairman of the American Victory Mariners Memorial and Museum Ship, invited Collins to join the AMVIC’s board a few years ago.

“He often would emcee for us looking very impressive in his ‘whites,’” Timmel said. Naval officers dress uniforms are known as dress whites.

Timmel says Collins was always willing to take a leadership role.
.
“He was certainly an officer and a gentleman. And when he would speak to the public on our behalf or on behalf of the veterans you knew you were hearing the words of a man who has great integrity.

“On our cruises as he would stand at the rail with his wife, you could see he was at home on board the ship,” Timmel said.

Collins was also at home among Florida’s veterans. Tom Bowman, acting deputy network director for VA Health Care in Florida, got to know Collins very well working to coordinate federal and state veteran care.

Bowman says Collins was especially concerned about meeting the needs of veterans from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

“He felt very passionate about identifying what their needs were with a particular focus on what the needs were of the families and those who were close to our veterans,” Bowman said.

“I think that he felt that there was a shortfall, not purposeful, in not being able to do more for the family,” he said.

Bowman says Collins had three passions: his family, the State of Florida, and veterans.

He says Collins was working on projects like trying to get a dedicated veterans’ counselor for every college and university in the state and trying to expand care facilities for permanently wounded veterans.

“I think that Florida veterans, their heart is broken. And I think a permanent memory we will always enjoy is the fact that we had the ability to be in the presence of Admiral Collins,” he said.

More than one friend wished Collins a traditional Navy farwell - fair winds and following seas.