Pete was born June 15, 1945 in Charleston, West Virginia and lost his battle with cancer on February 7, 2017. Pete was raised in Rattlesnake Hollow, West Virginia the son of Margaret Collins, brother of Marty Craighead and Marilee Haynes (Jon). He married the love of his life Vickie Sharon (Tawney) Collins on August 7, 1965. The proud father of Sherry Willen (Brent) and Benjamin Todd Collins (Amanda). The devoted grandfather of Kaila, Benjamin Cody, and Taylor.
Pete was an avid golfer and enthusiastic West Virginia Mountaineer fan. Pete started his railroad career as a clerk with the C & O Railway and worked his way up to Vice President of Car Utilization with CSX Railroad. He then started his own company Transportation Operations, Inc (TOI). With this company, he organized President George H. W. Bush’s Whistle Stop Campaign Train Tour and became half owner in the Iowa Northern Railway. He eventually reorganized TOI into Ironroads Railway. With this company, he became partial owner in five additional railroads, Bangor and Aroostook, Canadian American, Northern Vermont, Quebec Southern, and Nova Scotia Southern. He and Vickie eventually retired to Louisville, Kentucky to be close to their children and grandchildren.
Pete became a born again Christian with the help of his cousin Roger Keller. In the end, the most important thing is he gave his life to Christ and Pete is now at peace.
Memorial Service will be Saturday at 1 P.M. at the Owen Funeral Home, 5317 Dixie Highway with burial of cremains at Cave Hill Cemetery. Visitation is Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.