Sally J (Shears) Collins

What the caterpillar perceives as the end, to the butterfly is just the beginning. Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that all will be well. Unknown

Sally entered the highway to Heaven on April 17, 2022. She was born on March 18, 1942 in the clinic in Salem, Ohio. She leaves behind her brother Jan Shears of Columbiana; two nephews, David Shears of North Lima and Steven Shears of Beaver, PA, and two nieces Susan (John) Spadaro of Frederick, MD, and Judith (Paul) Miller of Lisbon and five great nieces and nephews. She also leaves a stepdaughter Anna Maloney of Salem and her son Thomas (Sandra) Maloney and a great-grandaughter Neli. She also leaves the Singh Tang family, who escaped from Cambodia and came to live in the US, and stayed with her and her husband Jerry. Her parents Harold and Martha (Holderieth) Shears and her husband Jerry Collins preceded her in death.

Sally was an avid Girl Scout and with 7 other Scouts from Salem, attended the National Girl Scout Round-Up in Colorado. During her summers at Mount Union she worked as a camp counselor at Camp Julia Crowell in West Richfield. She was a graduate of Salem High School and Mount Union College where she earned a BS in Education and taught 4 years in Bedford, Ohio and finished her career in Sebring.

Jerry and Sally were both pilots and owned and operated Tri City Airport in Sebring. They often flew to Cleveland to have dinner at Captain Franks or to New Philadelphia for lunch at Perkins, or a meal at Johnstown or Atwood Sate Park. They flew to their favorite vacation spots, mostly in the southeastern states. After retirement they bought a motor home and were able to enjoy the scenery along the way. In 1997 they built a villa at Copeland Oaks. Sally served on the Board of Directors for the Salvation Army of Sebring.

A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove- but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child. Forest Wetcraft

A Celebration of Life will be held on Friday, April 29, 2022 at 11:00 AM at Gednetz-Ruzek-Brown Funeral Home with Paul Freer officiating. Family and friends will be received the hour prior to the service from 10:00 am to 11:00 am at the funeral home. Interment will take place at Highland Memorial Park, Beloit. You may sign the guest register and view the obituary online at www.grfuneralhome.com. Arrangements have been entrusted to Gednetz-Ruzek-Brown Funeral Home, Sebring, 330-938-2526.

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