Arthur Mitchell Collins, age 72, passed away gently, surrounded by family at Ogeechee Area Hospice on the morning of November 20, 2023, after a prolonged battle with bladder cancer. He will be remembered as a loving father and a dedicated brother.
A Statesboro native and lifelong resident, Arthur was born in 1951 to the late Mitchell Lloyd and Lucy Riggs Collins. He sold boiled peanuts along 301 as a child to passersby in the 1950s. He later graduated from Statesboro High School in 1969 and Georgia Southern College in 1973. During college, he was the long-haired lead voice of Critical Mass, a local rock band in the 1970s, opening for well-known bands like Steppenwolf, the Allman Brothers, and Ted Nugent.
He and his wife of 51 years, Karen, met on the Landrum Center front steps at Georgia Southern and married in 1972. Together, they raised his six younger brothers and sisters who had lost their parents. After the last of his siblings graduated high school, Arthur and Karen had three children of their own- Kristopher Collins (deceased), Kristina Collins Riopelle, MD of Savannah, GA, and Jason Mitchell Collins of Chapel Hill, NC.
Arthur is survived by his wife, Karen, and children, Kristina and Jason; a son-in-law Jason Robert Riopelle; Arthur’s sisters Linda Moore, Brenda Collins, and Patricia McCubbins; his brothers John, David, Van, and Dewayne Collins; and their partners Gary McCubbins, Charlotte Collins, Chyrle Collins, and Monika James.
Visitation will be held 4:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. on Friday, November 24th at Joiner-Anderson Funeral Home in Statesboro. Funeral services will be held at Statesboro First Baptist Church in the Chapel on Saturday, November 25th. Arthur will lie-in-state at 1:00pm followed by a service at 2:00pm. He will then be laid to rest at Eastside Cemetery.
Flowers can be received at Joiner-Anderson Funeral Home & Crematory. Memorial contributions may be made to the Ogeechee Area Hospice, PO Box 531, Statesboro, GA 30459, or the American Cancer Society, 3380 Chastain Meadows Pkwy NW, Suite 200 Kennesaw, GA 30144.
Friends may sign the online register book at www.joineranderson.com
Joiner-Anderson Funeral Home & Crematory of Statesboro is in charge of arrangements
