Rosemary Worth Collins (Rosie) passed away on October 9, 2017 at Cathedral Village, Philadelphia, PA after a brief illness. She was 91 years old.
Born July 13, 1926 in White Plains, NY to R. Donald Worth and Rosemary Phyllis Hartmann Worth, she grew up in White Plains, Manhattan and Orange, Virginia. She attended the Masters School and Stuart Hall and graduated from Orange County High School.
Rosemary married Atwood Collins II in 1962 and spent most of her adult life in West Hartford, Connecticut, summering in South Dartmouth, MA. She was a member of the Green Bay Tree Garden Club and very active in the Women’s Exchange, the National Society of Colonial Dames and their Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum in Wethersfield, CT. S
he was a volunteer for the Samaritans, a suicide hotline, and, after her children were grown, she worked in development at Renbrook School. Moving to Philadelphia to be near her daughters, Starr Osborne and Natalie Hirshorn, Rosemary created a new life for herself at Cathedral Village where she co-founded The Attic, their resale shop, the proceeds from which go to staff holiday bonuses.
Rosemary was known for her inveterate reading, often a book a day, and her mastery of current events. She was also a great lover of animals, especially dogs, which she raised, groomed, and showed.
She is survived by children Atwood Collins III, Natalie Hirshorn, and Starr Osborne, their spouses, Cynthia Williams Collins, Ralph Hirshorn, and Minturn Osborne, grandchildren Porter and Dwight Collins, Jack Stephens, Rosemary, Lillie and Worth Osborne, six great grandchildren, and her sister Dianne Worth Marks and family. Her son George Faulkner Gilbert III and husband Atwood Collins II predeceased her.
A celebration of her life will take place on Saturday, October 28 at 11AM at Cathedral Hall, Cathedral Village, 600 East Cathedral Road, Philadelphia. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to St. Aidan’s Chapel, South Dartmouth, MA, Cathedral Village Holiday Fund, and the National Society of Colonial Dames in the State of Connecticut.
