Lloyd Franklin "Bud" Collins, passed away on September 9th, 2024 at the age of 90. He was born on January 17, 1934 in Minco Oklahoma. He married Virginia (Jenny) Bons and they were happily married until her passing in 2018.

Bud grew up on a farm near Minco where he learned the value of hard work and developed a love of hunting, fishing and noodling in his youth. He joined the United States Marine Corps and served his country. He learned machining in the corps and after his discharge, he started machining as a career. He went to night school and worked his way up to being an industrial engineer.

He was a lifelong engineer, working for Boeing, GE, Chrysler (Space Division), and others. In this field he contributed to advancements in aerospace, health, and computing. He worked on Saturn V engine creation, Heart-Lung prototyping, and engineered clean room capabilities for computing at the very outset.

He was not just an engineer at work, but in all of life. He would build a boat dock from scratch or rig up a custom garden watering system at a whim. He loved solving real-life challenges this way and passed that ingenuity on to his family. Anyone that ever ate a peach near him is likely aware that the pit is almost pure carbon, and can be used to harden steel.

Later in life he opened up a machine shop business for several years before retiring.

He greatly loved his family and started family reunions that lasted for 40 years. He had a passion for camping and boating, and lived for many years on the shores of Lake Texoma. Bud fished with everything from willow saplings and string to state of the art fish finders. He enjoyed taking people fishing, and always maneuvered the boat so the guest had the best spot. He loved taking his children fishing, and even more his grandchildren and great grandchildren. He loved a fish fry. The fish were simply prepared - just dredged in cornmeal and salt and pepper. They melted in your mouth.

He was preceded in death by his parents, William Loyd Collins, Fannie Mildred (Salmon) Collins, and his five brothers and sisters - William Roy (Bill) Collins, Marjorie Helen Souders, Barbera Jean Kuhlman, Raymond Terrel Collins, and Linda Ann White, and one great grandchild Byron Glenn III.

He is survived by daughter Debbie (Bill) VanDuynhoven, daughter Beverly Collins, son Charles (Wanda) Collins. Nine grandchildren; Stephanie (Brian) Smith, Amanda (Ben) VanDuynhoven, Christy (Kurt) White, Forrest Norvell, Kim McPeak, Michelle (Byron) Glenn, Paige(John) Wright, and Danielle (Spencer) Thach. Twelve great grandchildren - William, Owen, Ainsley, Andrew, Alexander, Reine, Alanna, Charlotte, Austin, Taylor, Brinley, Carson, Constance, Clayton, and Charles; and two great great grandchildren: Blakley and Waylon .

He enjoyed his final years living in Antlers and had many friends he will miss, and will miss him.

A funeral service will be held on Friday, September 20, 2024 at 1PM at the Serenity Funeral Service Chapel with Pastor Jim Collier officiating. Honors to be provided by the United States Marine Corps. Interment to follow at Butler Cemetery in Lane, OK.

Services are under the direction of Serenity Funeral Service of Antlers.