Harold Roy Collins, of Mt. Laurel Township, was a farmer, pilot, aviation inspector and aircraft mechanic. Mr. Collins worked in aviation for over 60 years. He never retired and was repairing airplanes until just a few months before his death.

Born in Mount Laurel, Mr. Collins was a lifelong resident of Burlington County. Following graduation in 1945 from Moorestown High School, Mr. Collins enlisted in the U. S. Army Air
Corps during the waning days of WWII and served stateside. Given the choice of assignment between tail gunner and mechanic, Mr. Collins decided to become a mechanic, which propelled him into a career in aviation when the war concluded.

Honorably discharged at the rank of corporal, Mr. Collins established an airstrip with a hangar, called Collins Field, on the family farm. He began to acquire airplanes and established a reputation as an outstanding pilot and aircraft mechanic. Mr. Collins was certified by the Federal Aviation Administration as an airframe and power plant mechanic and aircraft inspector. At the Flying W Airport and Ranch in Medford, Mr. Collins worked as a mechanic and helped develop an air freight operation. At the Northeast Philadelphia Airport, Mr. Collins worked for two firms:
He was a mechanic on corporate jets and helicopters for Asplundh Tree Expert Co., and he was chief mechanic with supervisory responsibilities for Presidential Airways, an executive air taxi service. As his aircraft repair and maintenance business grew, Mr. Collins continued to work the family farm with his brother Ralph, until it was sold in the mid-1980s.

An avid traveler, Mr. Collins piloted his own aircraft several times across much of the United States. He was a member of the International Flying Farmers from 1946 until his death, serving twice as president of the New Jersey chapter. Mr. Collins was also a lifelong member of the
Moorestown Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), where he served for several years on the Overseers Committee. He was renowned for his dry sense of humor.

Mr. Collins was married to the late Victoria Anne Collins, with whom he had two children, Phillip and JoAnn. Later in life he was married to Elizabeth Sturdevant Collins for more than twenty years until her death in 1998.