Clara Mae Collins

Mother Clara Mae Collins, 86, of Jacksonville, Florida, passed away peacefully after a battle with illness on Monday, March 9, 2026, at HCA Memorial Hospital.

She was born June 18, 1939, in Marion Junction, Alabama. In her later years, she moved to Scarsdale, New York, then to Yonkers, New York, and finally to Bridgeport, Connecticut, where she worked for the Pilot Corporation of America. She was the first employee they hired. After going to work for the Pilot Corporation, the company decided to move its corporate headquarters to Jacksonville, Florida, and in 1995, she was given the opportunity to move with the corporate office, where she worked faithfully for 25 years until she retired.

She was a loving and devoted mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and friend whose quiet strength and unwavering faith touched everyone she met. Mother Collins was also a faithful and very active member of the Next Generation Christian Church under the leadership of Dr. Willie J. Brown, until her health declined. She will truly be missed by all that knew her.

She is preceded in death by her youngest son, Steven L Collins; two grandsons, Cedric Collins and Amari Jones; her mother, Sallie Mae Barnett; her stepfather, Major Barnett, Sr.; her grandmother, Janie C. Lewis; five brothers, Bishop Allen Barnett, Sr., Eddie Barnett, Major Barnett, Jr., Joseph Barnett, and Johnny Barnett; and son-in-law, Solomon S. Jones, Jr.

She leaves to cherish her memories, her daughter, Frances Y. Jones; her son, Bishop Cedric D. Collins, Sr. (Susie); her adopted son, Dr. Willie J. Brown (Franziska); adopted daughter, Carolyn Colonel (John), all of Jacksonville, Florida; two sisters, Lucy Barnett of Sanford, Florida and Dorothy Barnett of Orlando, Florida; one brother, Nelson Barnett, Sr.; a devoted friend and spiritual sister, Deaconess Lucille Lowe; ten grandchildren; twenty-two great grandchildren; two great-great grandchildren; a devoted sister-in-law, Willie Mae Barnett of Selma, Alabama; and a host of nieces, nephews and cousins.

Sarah L. Carter's Funeral Home Southside is serving the Family.

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