BOMBER MEMORIAL

FRANCIS MARION "FRANK" COLLIER ~ Class of 1962
December 1, 1943 - August 9, 2017



Francis Marion Collier (Frank), age 73, took his last call on August 9, 2017, to be with the Lord.

Frank was home in bed asleep when he answered that call. Frank was born on December 1, 1943, in Ogden, UT as the second child born to Marion and Monica Collier. Shortly after his birth the family moved to Richland where his dad was working construction on the Hanford Nuclear site.

Frank attended school in Richland where he played the tuba in the Chief Joseph Jr. High marching band. The only tune he ever really mastered was "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star". You could hear him coming two blocks away. In high school Frank was in the FFA. He farmed alfalfa, plus he raised hogs and steers at the Richland School Farm in North Richland. He always said it was his favorite class. Frank graduated from Richland's Columbia High School in 1962.

After working in the pea harvest in Dayton and for Honey Joe Bee keeper that summer, Frank went to work that fall for the Northern Pacific Railroad in Pasco as a switchman.

In 1966 Frank enlisted in the U. S. Navy. He served as an engineman aboard the USS Sedgwick County, an LST, and the USS Snohomish County in the Vietnam war zone. After two years active duty he returned home to Richland and his railroad career. He was honorably discharged from the Navy Reserve in 1971.

When Frank returned to the Tri-Cities in 1968, he met and married his first wife, Chris Richmond. Frank and Chris had two sons, Michael and Bryan. After their divorce Frank met and married Nancy Starbird, or as he always called her "Red". They were really a matched pair, always laughing and raising hell. They moved to Suncrest, WA in 1985 where they had a house on the lake which really made it hard for Frank to stay marked up with the railroad during the summer. There was always boating or fishing, or working in his huge garden, instead of going to work on the train. Frank and Red were married until Red's death in 2001.

Frank retired from the railroad in 2003 after 41 years of service as a locomotive engineer.

He is survived by his two sons: Michael (Roberta) from Palouse, WA and Bryan (Laura) from Clarkston, WA; his three grandchildren: Christopher, K'Leigh, and Danielle; his sisters: Janis Wahl ('58) from Richland and Kathy Parker ('63) from Honolulu, HI; brothers: Pat ('67) (Celina) from Pasco and Mike ('73) (Lynn) from Suncrest, WA; and tons of nieces and nephews who loved their Uncle Frank to pieces. Everyone who ever met Frank will never forget him, and they have a story to tell their friends. He'll be sorely missed.

Frank's funeral service was celebrated at 11 a.m. on Thursday August 17, 2017, at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church, 6116 Hwy 291 in Suncrest, WA followed by his commitment at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Medical Lake at 2:15 p.m.

Catholic Funeral and Cemetery Services of Spokane handled the arrangements.

Guest Book.

Bomber Memorial put together by Shirley COLLINGS Haskins ('66).