Phil C. Collins Memorial Fund
Phil C. Collins (LCoB, 1960), who passed away on February 17th, 2021 at age 84, had many connections to UC and his life serves as an example that being a student athlete is great preparation for resilience, life and leadership on and off the field. He was a UC graduate, former student athlete (football), lifelong Bearcat fan, and is part of a long line of Bearcats. UC graduates include his father (Phil M.; Eng. ’34), brother (Joseph E.), sister (Ann Collins Keller) daughter (Kathy; Univ. ’82; student athlete -- swimming), son (Phil D.; LCoB ’89; student body president, current Trustee, current Director of UC Health), daughter-in-law (Lela; Ed ’90), and grand-daughter (Courtney (Collins) Cotton; A&S ’16, MS ’17, current 3rd yr. med Student).
As a three-sport athlete at Roger Bacon High School (class of 1954), including quarterback of their football team’s triple-option offense, he was recruited to UC by legendary future NFL coach Sid Gillman. When Gillman left for the Los Angeles Rams after his Freshman year, and new coach George Blackburn brought with him to UC future NFL players Jacky Lee and Joe Morrison at quarterback, his football career at UC was soon replaced by a political career.
Challenged by then UC basketball coach and Democratic party boss John “Socko” Wiethe to run for the State Legislature, at 22 he was the youngest person ever elected to statewide office (later tied by now-Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown’s election to the Ohio House at the same age in 1975). He served as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives in the 103rd and 104th Ohio General Assembly from 1959 to 1961 in a seat previously occupied by his father. During that time, he worked with UC President Walter Langsam on the early stages of UC’s ultimate transition from a municipal to a state institution. He then served as a member of Cincinnati City Council from 1962 to 1967 when, at 25, he was the youngest person ever elected to that office. He was active in Democratic politics, and proud to have worked on the campaigns of John F. Kennedy for President in 1960 and to have played an important role in the election of John Gilligan as Ohio Governor in 1970.
He was also 1962 graduate of the Salmon P. Chase College of Law. While serving in elected office, he practiced law with his father and brother at Collins, Collins and Collins, and later was a real estate and health care entrepreneur. He was a loving father and grandfather who loved to tell stories of his days at UC and in politics with incredible recollection of details until the very end.
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