Dorothy M. (Van Ark) Collins, 79, passed away into eternal peace on Friday, September 23, 2016 after a long war with Alzheimer's at Manitowoc Alzheimer's and Rehab Center. Mom was born to the late Clarence Van Ark and Margaret (Walske) Van Ark on April 12, 1937 in Green Bay. Dorothy was the oldest of the Van Ark 16 children and was always there for not only her children, but for all her brothers and sisters too. Her life always revolved around her family. Growing up, there were always extra places at the dinner table. Our family was always hosting dinner guests in the form of family members or even better our extended family members. Mom was notorious for adopting people who became very exceptional members of our extended family. Bob, Poot, Merc, Fr. Merck, Tony, Virginia, and Ronnie were only some of our other "family" members. Dorothy grew up in Oconto Falls and graduated from Oconto Falls High School in 1955. Just before graduation she met the love of her life while he was visiting a friend in town. They attended her senior prom together and were married that September. They were blessed with 4 children. Mom was a very multi-faceted person. She was the best Domestic Engineer and Chief Financial Officer (housewife) there was. Mom had a passion to cook that she learned from her mom, and like her mom she only knew how to cook for an army, which was good because we always had people there loving every morsel. She was an excellent gardener both inside and out. She had a whole hand of green thumbs and was the envy of all the neighbors no matter where she lived. One of her special fetishes was collecting rocks from wherever she went. The car was always hundreds of pounds heavier every time we came home from vacation. Her yard was a treasure trove of beautiful things nature created from trees, plants, grasses, flowers and rocks. Camping, hiking and travelling were all passions that she did for most of her life. She has thousands of pictures that celebrate everything from everyday events to unique vacations. She was a poster child for work ethic and morals, and was a role model for everyone. One of her favorite Monism's was "always leave something better than when you found it". One other tradition that extended way beyond our family was that everyone was greeted with a hug and kiss both coming and going. In addition to being home, after her children were grown, she worked as a hostess at Big Boy, an order specialist at Edelbeck and cashier at Krause's grocery store. Her greatest job was travelling with our father a master electrician as his specialist to help wire a number of the social security buildings across the United States. I'll let you guess who ended up being the boss! They were really an unbeatable team. Dorothy loved the outdoors. In addition to working in her garden and yard, she loved hiking, downhill and cross country skiing and her favorite was camping. Her favorite time of the year was the fall when the leaves were turning bright colors and the nights were cool. This made the campfires that much more special. Boy could she make campfires and some even drew special attention from the local camping tenants and law enforcement. That's another story. She also loved to travel and had made it to almost all 50 states and Canada at one time or another. She kept pictorial records of all events and is a treasured keepsake among the family. Dorothy was survived and very blessed with a very large awesome family. She is survived by her loving husband, Dick, of 61 years, daughter Sue and her husband Don Duca, Townsend, WI, daughter Dianne and Craig Hansen, Fond Du Lac, WI, and son Ron "Pete" (Janet) Collins, Appleton, WI. She is also survived by her grandchildren Melissa (Clark) Campbell, Christopher (Sara), Ashley (Hansen) Wendels, Patrick (Debbie) Hansen, Elise (Ryan) Nelson, and Sydney Hansen, Levi Collins, and Sierra Collins. Great-Grandchildren Calysta Campbell, Tyler, Emma, Abby Hansen, and Noah Wendels. Also by grand-dogs Drake, Zeta and Remi Duca. She is further survived by all of her brothers and sisters and their spouses, Clarence (Butch) and Judy Van Ark, Clara Van Ark, Donnie and Sharon Van Ark, Dick and Sue Van Ark, Carol (Fiance Tony) Foster, Peggy and Emil (Butch) Winkler, Nancy and Fay Notz, Kathy Berry, Gary and Roz Van Ark, Kenny and Bev Van Ark, Mike and Dawn Van Ark, David and Sherry Van Ark, Linda Schwister, Don Schwister, Sandy and Steve Hansel, and Lisa Van Ark. She is further survived by step-mother Helen Collins, brothers and sisters-in law Nancy Elliott, Sherman (Butch) and Tracy Foster, Bart and Patsy Foster, George and Marcy Collins, Susie and Dennis Cannon, Steve and Jean Summersett, Mike and Leslie Summersett. She is also further survived by all of her very special nieces and nephews, great nieces and nephews and great-great nieces and nephews too numerous to mention but so special just the same. In addition to her parents, Margaret and Clarence Van Ark, she was also preceded in death by her young son Jim Collins, father-in-law George Collins, mothers-in-law, Vivian, and Marie Collins, brother-in-law Cameron Collins, and nieces Wendy Winkler, Tress Van Ark, Phyliss Van Ark, and nephews Scott Foster, Billy and Robbie Van Ark and step-grandson Jim Duca. She was also preceded in death by her special 4 legged grandchildren which she treasured dearly, Duch, Dunkel and Buck. She is already setting up a welcome home party for herself or for whoever she is going to welcome to heaven complete with her favorite home cooked food which includes lobster, shrimp and steak, fresh vegetables from the garden and homemade pull-apart bread and angel food cake with caramel frosting for desert and home picked flowers to dress up the table. At the wishes of the family there will be no showing. There will be a celebration of life on Thursday, September 29, 2016 from 4 pm to 7 pm at RYAN FUNERAL HOME, 305 N. Tenth Street, De Pere. with a celebration service at 7pm. Because Dorothy was a bright shining light in everyone's life and she would not want anyone to be sad or grieving for her but instead be celebrating with her, please wear bright, happy colors. She was always a bright cheery person. Dorothy will be cremated and she will join their son Jim Collins at his grave at Mount Calvary Cemetery, De Pere, WI. Please go to www.ryanfh.com to send online condolences to the family. The family wishes to sincerely thank the entire staff at Manitowoc Alzheimer's and Rehab Facility for their true dedication, kindness, understanding and love that they extended to our Mom over the course of almost 9 years. Most recently Mary, Tabatha, Heidi, Barb, Lisa, Kim, Deb, Brenda Bartels, and the others who spent extra time helping us transition through the grieving and death process. We could not have made it without them.