Daniel James Collier

COLLIER, SR, DANIEL JAMES, 53
Ocala - Daniel James Collier, Sr., 53, of Ocala, passed away March 26, 2011 at his home. Born in Richmond, VA, he came to this area 31 years ago from Daytona Beach, FL. He was a lifelong C.P.A. in Marion County and a member of Blessed Trinity Catholic Church. He is survived by his loving wife of 29 years, Irene C. Collier; daughter, Catherine of Houston, TX; sons: Daniel Jr., John and Andrew all of Ocala; brother, John G. Collier, III of Ocala and his aunt, Jane F. Boinest of Richmond, VA. A mass of the Resurrection will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 2, 2011 at Blessed Trinity Catholic Church, 5 S.E. 17th St., Ocala with Father Patrick J. Sheedy as celebrant. Following the mass, a reception will be held in the parish hall. The family requests that in lieu of flowers donation be made to either the Trinity Catholic High School Girls Basketball or the Endowment for Student Athletes, 2600 SW 42nd St., Ocala, FL 34471. The family also requests that all in attendance wear F.S.U. attire and blue jeans in honor of Dan.


http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/ocala/obituary.aspx?n=daniel-james-collier&pid=149827865

Goodbye Coach...

Today at 10:15am, Coach Dan Collier made his way to his new coaching assignment.

I love you Dad.

Because I am my Father's Daughter....

As most of you know, Dad is losing is battle with cancer. I hate to say losing, because Colliers never lose. The chemo was hell and the radiation was even worse. Half way through his second round of chemo and proton therapy, his cancer spread to the skin. Spreading to the skin is very rare but they still thought they could get it. They tried some radiation, which exhausted Dad. Then they went to the "tried and not so true" type of chemo. It was the FDA approved form of chemo, they weren’t really sure if it would work, but Dad was going to try it. Dad struggled with this type more than the rest. He went in for his final rounds of test, only to find that it did not work. Dad had a choice to make. He had to decide if he wanted to keep trying the hell that they call chemo, or.... He chose the “or…” and we are okay with that. Dad is nearing the end but he hasn't stopped being is same ole sarcastic self.

Now, please don’t be sad. See Colliers do not lose and Colliers certainly do not cry…So…this is how I see it...

God loves football, its true. How do I know? Don't you see all of those football players thanking God for helping them get a touch down? God is there…heck, He invented football.

Well, you see, God has two football teams in heaven, one being the team of Archangels called the Angels and the other the ragamuffin team, the Saints. See now, the Archangels are well, Angelic. They are perfect in every way, offense, defense, special teams? They have it! The Saints, well, not so much. How can you compete with Perfect? Most times, they barely get past the line of scrimmage. God was getting bored with always seeing the Saints get clobbered. It really is not much fun (believe me, I know, I went to St. John).

So, he started interviewing all the famous football coaches in heaven. He met with Woody Hayes and Paul William "Bear" Bryant, but both of them only wanted to recruit from Heaven and fire the rest of the players. God doesn’t like that. He likes fair, heck, He invented fair. So He thought and He thought, and He finally came up with an idea. He was going to call a coach to Heaven, one who always coached fairly, one who always let everyone play, even the worst of the worst. He decided to call Coach Dan Collier to Heaven.

God knew that my Dad was really struggling with the Chemo but he was fighting for his family, fighting so hard. God knew Dad was tired and just couldn’t do it much more. But Colliers never quit and they certainly do not fail. So God called him home, He can do that, He is God.

Soon my Dad will be working on plays, practicing with the team and getting them ready for Fall. He will be out of pain and will be in his element. I believe this, you should too.

Go Saints beat the Angels!!!!!