Former Will Rogers Memorial Commission head dies

EDMOND, Okla. (AP) -- The former head of the Will Rogers Memorial Commission has died,<br/><br/>Reba Neighbors Collins died at Edmond Regional Medical Center Monday following a brief illness. She was 80.<br/><br/>University

Tuesday, November 15th 2005, 5:45 am

By: News On 6

EDMOND, Okla. (AP) -- The former head of the Will Rogers Memorial Commission has died,

Reba Neighbors Collins died at Edmond Regional Medical Center Monday following a brief illness. She was 80.

University of Central Oklahoma officials say Collins served as director of the Will Rogers Memorial Commission in Claremore from 1975 to 1989.

She also wrote seven books and scores of articles about Rogers, including the bestseller, "Will Rogers Says: Favorite Quotations Selected by the Will Rogers Memorial Staff," which sold 80,000 copies.

Collins was born August 26th, 1925, in Shawnee and grew up near Edmond.

She earned a bachelor's degree from then-Central State University in 1958 and worked there as a journalism professor and director of the school's public relations until 1975.

Collins earned a master's degree and a doctorate from Oklahoma State University.

She was inducted into the Oklahoma Historians Hall of Fame and the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame.

Her funeral is set for 10 AM Thursday at Baggerley Funeral Home Chapel in Edmond