John Frederick Collins

John Frederick Collins

by Angelica Coleman

John Frederick Collins was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts on July 20, 1919. He graduated from Suffolk University Law School in 1941 and served a tour in the Army during WWII. He was elected to the Massachusetts State Senate four years later for two terms, and then unsuccessfully ran for state attorney general in 1954. Collins contracted polio while campaigning for a seat on the City Council in 1955. Despite warnings from his doctors, he continued with his campaign.

He was elected to the Council and the following year was appointed to Register of Probate for Suffolk County. In 1959,viewed as the underdog, Collins ran against John E. Powers for Mayor of Boston. Collins held visiting and consulting professorships at MIT for 13 years after leaving office in 1968. Collins died on Novemeber 23, 1995 from penumonia in Boston, MA. He is buried at St. Joseph’s Cemetary in West Roxbury, Ma. His funeral was celebrated on Novemember 28, 1995 bu Cardinal Bernard Law and Boston’s Holy Cross Cathedral.