Linda Robinson Collins

April 12th, 1953 – September 14th, 2018

Linda Collins peacefully passed away the afternoon of September 14th, surrounded by loved ones, at Ithaca’s Hospicare Residence after a nearly 20 year battle with breast cancer…but she’d never want that to define her. Linda was brilliant, kind, and beautiful; a ridiculously supportive mother, a loving partner, loyal friend, and community service provider. She will be greatly missed by those who survive her: her son, Zachary Lifton, her steadfast partner, David Priester, and her dearest friends Marcia, Pam, Suzanne and Zehna.

Linda was born and raised in Massena, NY, moving to Ithaca in pursuit of an Ivy League education at Cornell University. She led a life of curiosity and constant yearning for knowledge, ultimately earning four degrees: a BS in Design and Environmental Analysis (Cornell, ‘75), and both an MS and PhD in Sociology (Cornell, ‘80/’89). Later in life Linda returned to school to study nursing, and earned her BSN, with honors, from Binghamton University in 2004.

Even outside academia, Linda was a life-long learner. She learned to sail on Cayuga Lake; she learned to bind books and letterpress print; she learned to garden and hand-piece quilts; she learned to hike and bird-watch. She could wrangle a snow-blower and bake a great pumpkin pie. Linda could do anything she set her mind to.

One of Linda’s greatest gifts was her ability—and drive—to use her knowledge in the service of others. Throughout her life Linda held an amazingly eclectic and wonderful series of community-facing positions and roles: most recently in the world of both oncology and hospice nursing, where she assisted and comforted her patients and their families in their final days. Previously Linda worked in academia for over a decade, serving as an advisor to students, a professor of marketing at Ithaca College, and a Lecturer at Cornell University.

Linda was also continually invested in her community, with a true passion for Ithaca (her adopted homeland of many decades). She served nearly eight years on the Town of Ithaca Planning Board, only finally resigning as she moved to hospice. She was passionate about preserving Ithaca’s historic character, and fervently pushed for thoughtful, balanced development.

In her spare time Linda was a voracious reader, a lover of the library and any used bookstore. She especially enjoyed learning about history and travelled, with her partner David, to some of the country’s most beautiful and historic sites. In 2016 she fulfilled her lifelong dream of visiting Italy: a trip that took her to Rome, Florence, Venice and Positano. Closer to home, she frequently found solace in the natural beauty and calm of the White Mountains in New Hampshire, and David’s family homestead in Peacham, Vermont; a place the two visited regularly. Here in Ithaca, she could be found chattering with friends over coffee at Gimme, or out to one of her weekly lunches at Moosewood; a tradition going back decades to when it was a mere hole in the wall for the lucky few who could snag a table.

As a mother, she expertly sewed Halloween costumes, attended what must have been terrible clarinet concerts, gave countless hugs, flew cross-country for visits, and otherwise supported her son, Zach, during some of the most difficult transitions in his life. (She often recalled driving a U-Haul through Manhattan on his behalf—a place she had never driven before—and if that isn’t love, what is?)

Essentially, Linda was sharp as a tack, yet so well-rounded in her interests, passions and accomplishments that there aren’t enough words to describe her. She was loved deeply: a love she brilliantly reflected back to those of us who were blessed in knowing her.

In lieu of flowers/gifts, the family requests donations be made to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation at komen.org. A private service for close loved ones will be held, but words of support and fond memories may be shared with the family via her [pending] obituary page at bangsfuneralhome.com