[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 15248]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              REMEMBERING REAR ADMIRAL LEROY COLLINS, JR.

  Mr. LeMIEUX. Madam President, I rise today to give special 
recognition to the life and work of a great Floridian who was 
tragically killed in Florida unexpectedly just a few weeks ago. RADM 
LeRoy Collins, Jr., is the son of our former Governor, Governor LeRoy 
Collins. He was an admiral in the Navy. He was the head of the Veterans 
Affairs Division in the State of Florida where I had the opportunity to 
personally work with him when I served the Governor. A native of 
Tallahassee, FL, he received his commission from the Naval Academy in 
June 1956 and began a long career in the Navy.
  His first tour was aboard the amphibious transport USS Calvert, 
followed by the Submarine Officer's Basic Course in Groton, CT, and he 
later served abroad the U.S. submarine Chivo.
  Through hard work, dedication and sacrifice, LeRoy earned the rank of 
rear admiral.
  Admiral Collins served as an analyst for naval Intelligence in 
Washington, DC, and as a ballistic missile weapons officer aboard the 
nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine USS James Madison. After a 
brief tour working missile test operations at the Naval Ordnance 
Training Unit, in Cape Canaveral, he transferred to the Navy Reserve in 
1966.
  While a naval reservist, Admiral Collins served as commanding officer 
of the coastal minesweeper USS Thrush and later as commander of various 
Navy Reserve submarine units. During his time, he was the Navy's 
liaison to the Florida National Guard and also commanding officer of 
the Navy liaison unit at U.S. Readiness Command, headquartered at 
MacDill Air Force Base, FL.
  The admiral served as Commander, Naval Reserve Readiness Command, 
Region 8 and later as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Reserve) for 
Logistics, Pentagon, until his retirement from the Navy Reserve as a 
two-star rear admiral in October, 1990.
  Admiral Collins also had a career in business. He spent time with the 
Florida Power & Light Company and IBM. He was the founding president of 
Financial Transaction Systems, Inc., and president of Telecredit 
Service Center, Inc. In addition, he served as president of Dynamic 
Realty of Tampa, Inc., was chairman of Gateway Holdings, Inc., and 
served as president of the Armed Forces Financial Network.
  He was a great Floridian. The Collins family is perhaps Florida's 
first family. Governor Collins is perhaps our greatest Governor. 
Admiral Collins upheld the tradition of his family that traces it roots 
all the way back to the founding of Florida. The property upon which 
our Governor's Mansion sits was given by the Collins family. Their 
home, The Grove, sits right next door.
  Admiral Collins was in many ways everything you would expect of a 
great Floridian. He was genteel, he was kind, he was smart. Public 
service mattered to him.
  On behalf of the people of Florida, on behalf of the Senate, I extend 
our condolences to his wife Jane and their family on the passing of a 
truly great Floridian. He and they are in our thoughts and prayers.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Carolina.

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