Tom Collins Dies at 100

Tom Collins

Tom Collins passed away last week at the age of 100. Leaving behind a wealth of survivors, Collins was born in Yazoo City, Miss., but passed away at Miller’s Merry Manor in Culver. He was a former resident of Chicago, working as a meat packer, but moved to Winamac in 1969. He was preceded in death by his wife, Lillian Williams, who passed away on February 14, 2002.

Collins played professional baseball on a team many people may not know: the Memphis Red Sox, a professional Negro League baseball team based in Memphis, Tenn., from the 1920s until the end of segregated baseball. Collins even played with one very notable player from the team: Satchel Paige, who was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971—the first player to be inducted from the Negro leagues.

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