Virginia Alberta Thomas Collier, age 92, passed away peacefully at her home in Phoenix, Arizona on Wednesday, September 5, 2018. Virginia Alberta Thomas Collier was born on January 16, 1926 in Oneida, Tennessee. She was the oldest child of seven children to Walter and Rachel Thomas.
Following in her mother’s footsteps, Alberta went to Berea College in Berea Kentucky at age 16. She received her high school diploma there in 1944. She then graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Home Economics in 1950.
It was at Berea College that Alberta met Lloyd Collier. They were married June 1, 1952 at Berea’s Chapel. Alberta began teaching in 1950 at Dorton School in Crossville, Tennessee.
After two years there she taught at Homestead School in Crossville. In 1955 Lloyd and Alberta moved to Mendota, Illinois where Alberta taught Home Economics at Paw Paw High School. In Mendota, they had two children, Lynda Anne and Glen Alan.
In 1967, the family moved to the 13 acre farm in DeKalb, Illinois. Alberta moved to Waterman High School and taught Home Economics there. She earned her master’s degree in Education in 1969 from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb.
She retired from her long and successful career in education in 1986. During the summers in the mid ‘70s, Lloyd and Alberta started Collier’s Farm where they sold fresh fruits and vegetables, pumpkins, and homemade canned goods. Lloyd and Alberta began spending their winters in Mesa, Arizona.
In 2013, when Lloyd passed away, Alberta was comforted by five wonderful years of fabulous friends and enjoyable activities at Mountain Park Senior Living Center in Phoenix, AZ. Alberta is preceded in death by her husband Lloyd Collier and her parents Walter Roy Thomas and Rachel Clementine (Phillips) Thomas and two brothers Richard Harrison Thomas and Ray Thomas and one sister Audrey (Thomas) Coombs. She is survived by; two children Lynda (John) Ann Collier Favorite of Novi, Michigan and Glen (Mindy) Alan Collier of Phoenix, Arizona; six grandchildren, John (Amanda), Mark, Paul, and Mary Favorite; Jack and Kendall Collier; one sister Alma (Thomas) Laxton; and one brother Roy (Celia Joy) Thomas; and many beloved nieces and nephews.
Friends may visit with the Collier family on Saturday, September 15, 2018 from 1 p.m. until time of the funeral service at 2 p.m. in the chapel of West-Murley Funeral Home. Burial is at Marcum-Kidd Cemetery in Oneida, Tennessee. In Lieu of Flowers donations can be made to University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center – Find a Cure: www.
cureceliacdisease.org/donate/. West-Murley Funeral Home is serving the family of Virginia Alberta Thomas Collier.
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