Jon Richard Collins

The Honorable Jon R. Collins was born in Ely, Nevada, on May 7, 1923, the son of Dorothy and Frey Collins. A lifelong resident of Nevada, he graduated from White Pine High School and from the University of Pennsylvania. He served two years in the Pacific Theater during World War II, witnessing the Bikini atomic blast as an ensign aboard a support ship to Operation Crossroads. After the war, he joined the staff of Senator Patrick McCarran and attended Georgetown University Law School in Washington, D.C., where he received his law degree. It was in Washington that he met and married his wife, Rita.

After completing his education, Justice Collins returned to Ely and opened his law practice. His interest in politics led him to run successfully for White Pine County District Attorney, an office he served in from 1950 to 1954. Beginning in 1952, he served as a delegate to the National Democratic Convention, and he later headed the campaign to obtain the presidential nomination for Jimmy Carter and spearheaded the Carter campaign in Nevada. From 1958 to 1966, he sat as a district judge in his home county.

On April 18, 1966, he was appointed by Governor Grant Sawyer to fill the vacancy on the Nevada Supreme Court created by the death of Justice Milton B. Badt. Justice Collins served on the Supreme Court until 1971, was Chief Justice in 1969, and authored 163 cases during his tenure. After 12 years of judicial service, he retired from the Supreme Court and joined the law firm of Lionel Sawyer and Collins. Remembered as an outstanding jurist and highly respected attorney, he was known equally for his unassuming honesty and his abiding concern for others.