Harold E. Collings, 92, of Kingsbury, IN, died July 22, 2013.
Born on July 10, 1921, the oldest of eight children, Harold was a lifetime resident of Kingsbury and a member of First Baptist Church of Kingsbury after salvation at age 16. Harold served as a deacon, vice president of the administrative board and led music in the worship service. He was Kingsbury’s postmaster for 40 years, retiring in 1987. His family operated the Royal Blue Store for a time, which also housed the post office. Harold was affectionately known as “The Mayor of Kingsbury.”
During World War II Harold entered the Army in January of 1943. Basic training was in Riverside, California, at Camp Hahn. He was a cook and was shipped to New Guinea, Biak Island, where anti-aircraft bombers were stationed. While there he went out into the ocean by himself to cool off and got caught in a rip tide. God saved him from that, also.
Back home, in 1946, he was asked to be in a play given by the church youth group at Kingsbury School. He met Jean Noakes there and they married a year later on April 19, 1947. They had three children, Ray, Janet and Richard. Janet (Collings-Drayton) passed away in 2010. They built a home north of the post office in 1958 and had lived there ever since.
Harold is survived by his wife, Jean, two sons, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be at 1 p.m. and funeral services at 2 p.m. on Friday, July 26, both at First Baptist Church of Kingsbury with Rev. Tim Williams officiating. Burial will be held in Kingsbury Cemetery. A military service will be conducted by the American Legion–VFW Honor Guard of LaPorte at the cemetery. Haverstock Funeral Home and Cremation Services, LaPorte, is handling arrangements.
Memorial contributions may be made to First Baptist Church of Kingsbury, P.O. Box 47, Kingsbury, IN 46345.
Messages of condolence may be posted below on WNLP, as well as at www.haverstockfuneralhome.com.