TOLEDO, Ohio — The mayor of Ohio’s fourth largest city, who died just over a year into his first term,
was described Wednesday as a passionate, dedicated public servant who always put the community first.
Hundreds of mourners, including Gov. John Kasich, filled a basketball arena for a memorial service for
Toledo Mayor D. Michael Collins, who died Friday at age 70. Collins died at a hospital five days after
crashing his SUV into a utility pole after he suffered cardiac arrest while driving during a snowstorm.
"Serving others was his passion," said University of Toledo Interim President Nagi Naganathan,
who spoke at the service at the school’s Savage Arena.
Naganathan noted that Collins, a Toledo native, loved and supported the university from which he had
earned two degrees.
"Mike was such a strong person through and through, from character, personality, integrity and
presence," said Ron Scanlon, a retired Toledo police officer and close friend of Collins.
"We’re all here because somewhere, somehow we’ve all been touched by Mike."
The city’s chief of staff, Robert Reinbolt, remembered Collins as a wonderful family man who loved to
talk and tell stories.
Collins became an advocate for expanded attention to drinking water quality after Toledo’s water supply
was contaminated by toxins from algae blooms in Lake Erie last August. He testified before a U.S. Senate
committee in December and called on the federal government to improve water quality in America’s lakes
and rivers. Collins warned that the toxic algae blooms could happen again if the problem isn’t
addressed.
He began his political career after spending 27 years with the Toledo Police Department and heading up
the police union. A political independent, Collins was elected to the Toledo City Council in 2007. He
made an unsuccessful bid for mayor in 2009 but defeated incumbent Michael Bell four years later.
Began the service began, many filed past the closed casket. A funeral Mass for Collins will take place
Friday following a 12-mile procession through the city.
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