Mrs. Joyce Ann Collins, age 79, passed away Wednesday May 2, 2012, at Ridgecrest Manor, Duffield, Virginia. She was born on August 3, 1932, in Letcher County, Kentucky, and was a lifelong resident of the county. She was a mother and a homemaker, and was a retired school teacher.   Having taught thirty-two years for the Jenkins Independent School District, she touched the lives of many people. Her daughters described her as the best mother and grandmother in the world, and she closely followed the lives of her children and grandchildren. Mrs. Collins was a member of the Burdine Freewill Baptist Church.

   She was a daughter of the late Albert & Lora Pritchard Dingus, and was also preceded in death by two sisters, Bertha Carter and Frances DePriest; and a brother, Bobby Dingus.

   She is survived by her beloved husband of sixty-four years, Wayne Collins, Jenkins, Kentucky; two daughters, Sharon Bevins and Cathy Johnson & son-in-law, Mark, all of Jenkins, Kentucky; four grandchildren, Chris Puckett, Lora Carella, Logan Johnson, and Emily Johnson; four great-grandchildren, Christopher Puckett, Brook Puckett, Josh Puckett, and Brianna Carella; a sister, Mae Wright, Jenkins, Kentucky; a brother, Jack Dingus, Tipp City, Ohio; and a host of other relatives and friends.

   Visitation was on Thursday May 3, 2012, after 7:30 PM at the Burdine Freewill Baptist Church, Burdine, Kentucky. Funeral services were conducted on Friday May 4, 2012, at the church, with Rev. Bennie McCall, officiating. Interment  followed at the Powell Valley Memorial Gardens, Big Stone Gap, Virginia.

   Funeral arrangements cared for by Polly & Craft Funeral Home, Jenkins, Kentucky.