Martha R. (Riordan) Collins
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Published in January 2024
Martha R. Collins of Newburyport, MA passed away peacefully on January 23rd at the Kaplan Hospice House in Danvers, MA at the age of 81.
Born in Salem, MA on February 21, 1942 to the late Kathleen Riordan. Martha grew up in Salem where she graduated from the St. James High School in 1959 and from Salem State University in 1963. It is also where she met the “love of her life” John “Jack” Collins. They married in 1964 and moved to Danvers, MA to start their new life together. Martha was a teacher at the Riverside School in Danvers for 22 years before retiring in 1999.
While settling in Danvers she raised her three beautiful children Susan, Elizabeth and Peter where they enjoyed many summers on West Beach in Beverly Farms and ski trips to North Conway in the winters. She was very active in her children’s lives, always driving them from school to practice and games and was always their biggest fan. Martha loved to cook, bake and sew and she took great pride in her window flower boxes. She enjoyed hosting parties and holidays where everyone enjoyed a fresh batch of her Aunt Alice’s famous congo bars. Martha was kind and generous to everyone she met, her caring personality and friendly demeanor created many life-long friends on the north shore who she shared countless great memories with.
In addition to Jack and her children, Martha was the extremely proud “Nana” of nine grandchildren. Each one brought even more love and joy to her life. She couldn’t wait to be called Nana and she treated it as the most important job she ever had. Once she retired she took turns watching them, having sleepovers and she went to as many games and recitals as she could. Whenever she heard about any event, she would quickly write it in her calendar and rarely missed one. She was most proud of her grandkid’s accomplishments making her one happy Nana.
In 1995 Martha and Jack purchased a house on Nantucket that brought even more memories and joy to her family. She loved having family and friends visit, often spending holidays, 4th of July and off-season long weekends there. In 2004 she and Jack starting going to Naples, FL during the winter where they have made many new friends.
In addition to her husband Jack, Martha is survived by her daughter Susan Dwyer, her husband Ryan and their children Kathleen, Liam, Maeve and the late Clare Dwyer of Reading, MA; Elizabeth Murray, her husband Kevin and their children Ellie, Colin and Jack of Reading, MA; her son Peter Collins, his wife Laura and their daughters Caroline and Natalie of Wakefield, MA. Her brother Jerome Riordan and his wife Sharon of Topsfield, MA and their children Maggie and James. Her sister-in-law Katherine Collins of Medford, Brother-in-Law Thomas Collins of Boston; Sister-in-Law Liz Collins of Beverly and her children John and Martin. She was sister-in-law to the late Judith Collins, Mary Collins and Joseph Collins.
Visiting hours will be on Thursday, January 25th from 4:00 PM – 8:00 PM at the Twomey, LeBlanc and Conte Funeral Home, 193 High Street, Newburyport MA; Funeral Mass to be held on Saturday, January 27th at 10:30 AM at the Immaculate Conception Church, 42 Green Street, Newburyport, MA, followed by burial at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Salem, MA.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Compassionate Care ALS, P.O. Box 1052, West Falmouth, MA 02574.
For directions or to offer online condolences please visit www.tlcfuneralhome.com.
