Dignitaries and common-folk pay respects to a Tampa statesman
By Chris Ingram
An over-flow crowd of people from all walks of life attended funeral services for LeRoy Collins, Jr. at Saint Andrews Episcopal Church in Tampa today.
Dignitaries attending the service included Governor Charlie Crist, U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio, former Governor Bob Martinez, and former Congressman Mike Bilirakis.
But of more significance than those dignitaries in attendance were the common people there who knew what kind of man LeRoy Collins was. Those paying honor to the admiral represented a diverse crowd of folks black and white, Democrat and Republican, military men and women, and civilians from all walks of life.
In his reflections, Brigadier General Forrest Ted Gay, USA, spoke of Admiral Collins love of country, service and family. He recounted the broad depth of character of the man those who attended the service came to celebrate; Gay reflected on the admirals integrity, compassion, and good humor as well as his penchant for living life at its fullest as a piano player, athlete, serviceman, and son of God who was active in his church and who treated everyone he met with dignity, honor, and respect. Gay also referred to Collins nickname at the Naval Academy Crazy Legs and noted we shouldnt be surprised to know a man with such a nickname first jumped out of an airplane at the ripe-old-age of seventy.
That reflection reminded me of my days working on the admirals long-shot U.S. Senate campaign in 2006. I had just boarded a 7:00 a.m. flight to Washington to attend to some non-campaign related business when my cell phone rang. It was the admirals wife Jane calling.
Mrs. Collins wanted to know if I knew about this crazy idea of having the admiral jump out of a plane again as some sort of campaign stunt. Darned right I knew, but I played a little dumb as Mrs. Collins insisted this was a stupid idea, and that she certainly figured I shared her concerns that the admiral had no business jumping out of a plane.
Despite his previous jump a few years earlier, Mrs. Collins had a deep fear of all things flying (and jumping) related as she had nearly lost her husband in a plane crash decades earlier.
Needless to say, while Admiral Collins was a two-star Rear Admiral in the Navy with a commanding presence, he had a three-star admiral to answer to at home. He didnt jump again.