Beth Collins:
CLASS OF 1974
Ashbrook High SchoolClass of 1974
Gastonia, NC
Beth's Story
I married my high school beau, Buddy Collins. We are getting ready to celebrate 43 years together, 38 years married on April 30, 2015. Whew that's a long time. We have two beautiful children (now adults), our first born is Joshua Thomas Collins born in 1980. We lived in Gastonia at the time of his birth. He was born 11 weeks premature but still weighed over 5 lbs. I used to tell him that he was in such a hurry to come into this world to drive me absolutely nuts and he always got a A+ exceptional at his job. Our second child, Courtney Elizabeth Collins was born in 1983 and we decided that we had supplied the world with a boy and a girl and that we'd done our job. In 1989, we moved to Charlotte to be closer to our jobs. We bought a house in the Steel Creek area, where we had many new friends and absolutely loved it. We were just starting the foundation of our house with Hurricane Hugo hit the Carolinas. We were very lucky that we didn't have any damage, several houses that were under construction had to be torn down and rebuilt. Buddy was managing the Trust Office of Southern National Bank before it was bought by BB&T. I was working for a real estate firm downtown - Gibson Smith Realty. Our lives made a drastic change when Buddy was transferred to Winston Salem by BB&T. After careful consideration, Buddy accepted a job with Lincoln Bank in Lincolnton, North Carolina opening the brand new Trust Department. This was in 1993, we weren't planning on living in Lincolnton but a couple of years, this plan drastically changed also. I started my own business in Lincolnton, I designed dance costumes, made curtains, did some home decorating and other decorating. Buddy started the Trust Department and all was well in Lincolnton. Josh graduated from Lincolnton High School in 1998 and enrolled at Appalachian State University. Our trek back to Boone began, you see Buddy had graduated from App and I had also gone there, now our second generation began. Meanwhile back at the ranch, Courtney began performing in many school plays, she sang her way into the hearts of many. When she was a freshman and sophomore she went to Lincolnton High School, she began to play basketball as she was growing ...Expand for more
like a weed, then she moved on to modeling, singing and acting which is where she really excelled. During this time, gun violence at schools across the country had begun to dominate the headlines. Right after the Columbine shootings, she was threatened at school (of course, over a boy) but it got really serious. Courtney decided to transfer schools to East Lincolnton High School where she continued in Color Guard, Chorus, acting and other hobbies. She graduated from East Lincoln in 2001. She began her college at App State with her brother. During this time, Lincoln Bank where Buddy worked was bought out by another bank and it was impractical for him to commute, so he made a career change and began working in the stock market. He has been with Edward Jones since then and has his office in Lincolnton, NC. I decided to go back into the "real" world as my dad always said. I started with a new firm called TransAqua where I combined my office skills with my designing skills. I became the purchasing manager for the company, it was a very rewarding time, but all good things eventually come to an end and so did the company. So I researched my skills against the world and ended up going into Legal as a Legal Assistant. I'm still there, working on 15 years now. Kids are now married, Josh married a girl from Cary, NC that he met at App. He and Melissa lived in Boone for six or seven years and had my first grandchild, Banks McCabe Collins, he is now 6 years old. They recently moved back to Lincolnton. Yeh! Courtney also got married and lives in Charlotte with her husband and my second grandson, Lake Edward Lee, he is three and then Courtney (my angel) gave me my first and only granddaughter. She was born in June of last year, she is Elle Wynne Lee and oh my am I a proud grandmother, just ask me and I can talk for hours. Buddy and I have 4 dogs, 3 cats and a bird a regular zoo. He loves to play golf and I love to work in the yard. We bought us a camper last year and now we are camping every chance we get with our children and grandchildren. We are just happy as two peas in a pod (with a lot of babies on the side). So now you are up-to-date on the not so boring existence I call life.
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