Eva C. Fortier

The daughter of the late Louis E. Collins Sr. and the late Thomasina “Tessie” Galgano Collins, Eva was born in Bristol on Sept. 6, 1939, where she resided most of her life, married, raised her family, and worked, providing endless optimism to those around her.

One of her favorite memories from her time away, however, includes the years she lived in North Carolina when she captained her eighth-grade basketball team, during the time her father served in the Marine Corps and her family lived at Camp Lejeune.

She returned to Bristol for high school, but she did not finish, leaving before graduation to have the first of her five boys. Eventually, she returned to the classroom to earn her GED, years after rejoining the workforce, first at Lee Spring, where she was a machine operator, advancing to set-up person. She was endlessly curious, constantly learning and applying what she learned.

Later, at Superior Electric, she would work her way from the factory floor to become a switchboard operator and win over the engineers to assume responsibility for internal communications, advising about phone equipment, and installing and programming it. She was a marvel.

She ended her career as a switchboard operator at ESPN just a few years ago, after too many years of working when others her age had retired. That did not stop her from calling back when she encountered issues with the phone system. And she always managed to keep in touch with former workmates.

Hers was a rich amalgam of her mother’s Italian romanticism and her father’s old Yankee pragmatism. She read endlessly, tried her hand at drawing and writing, and worked industriously to support, encourage and protect the ones she loved.

And she cooked. Holidays, birthdays, of course. Short visits always included at least one question/request: “Let me get you something to eat?” Her homemade manicotti was a treat. Terrific. Of course, once she tried baking cheesecakes and learned we loved them, she must have produced a couple hundred--there was no stopping her.

She acknowledged birthdays and anniversaries with homemade cakes, cards with personal notes, phone calls peppered with “I love you’s,” and presents. She could never do enough for her loved ones.

Christmases were truly magical, providing her with a reason to perform miracles, not only for her own children but for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

She loved her plants and wall hangings, word games, including crosswords and word jumbles, along with watching Jeopardy! and cheering on Stephen Curry and his Golden State Warriors.

Most of all she loved her family, which extended far beyond blood ties. Often a member of the extended family or a family friend might be camping out for a night or weeks on the couch or sequestered in one of the bedrooms which barely accommodated family members, and no one thought it was an imposition. No matter what, there would be food on the stove, clean clothes, and much love. Among her favorites were Alex “Spec” Monico and the late Jay Trelli.

She was a beautiful spirit but also a stunningly beautiful woman. A photo from her wedding album captures her exiting the limousine--Ava Gardner had nothing on her.