Kathleen Collins Obituary

Collins
Kathleen Fox
Collins
December 17, 1942
January 9, 2023

If you've ever heard the climax of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, the part with the cannons, that's a clue to the life and career of Kathleen Fox Collins, who for nearly 50 years organized, promoted and centered musical arts in Colorado Springs. She died, uncharacteristically peacefully, at her home in the loving presence of family and friends on Jan. 9, 2023, just a few weeks after her 80th birthday.
Born Dec. 17, 1942, in Mexico City to Ellen Louise Traumann, who had sought refuge from Germany, and Hugh Corby Fox Jr., a former U.S. diplomat, Kathleen spent most of her first 15 years abroad, in Fiji, Egypt and India, traveling through dozens of countries in between. She survived a ship fire in New Zealand, climbed the pyramids, house-boated in Kashmir, drove through the Soviet Union and cared for exotic pets such as mongooses, falcons and a leopard named Pushpa.
In 1957, she left India to attend boarding school near Philadelphia, then high school near Bethany, Connecticut, after her family had returned to the United States. She attended the University of Colorado in Boulder and was married in 1964 to Timothy Collins, whose family lived in Colorado Springs. The couple first lived in Denver, where their son, Joel, was born.
As an aspiring actress (she had an early start as an infant in a film starring Ricardo Montalban), she embraced her love of theater while living in New York City and working for Theatre for the Forgotten, helping prisoners at Rikers Island, Attica and other institutions to write and perform their own plays.
In 1975, Kathleen moved to Colorado Springs, first managing the Agora Building on North Tejon Street and soon finding her calling in music management, serving in various roles for 25 years with the Colorado Springs Symphony Orchestra. There, alongside general manager Bee Vradenburg and conductor and her then-partner Charles Ansbacher, the trio conceived projects such as Summer Symphony at Memorial Park, Pops on Ice and numerous other artistic collaborations. Next in her music career was 15 years with Western Jubilee, promoting and booking cowboy artists for festivals and recordings and deepening our collective understanding of this Western genre.
Diminutive in size but with a forceful and single-minded drive, she served on numerous boards and committees including UCCS Theatreworks, KCME and Friends of the Uncle Wilber Fountain; founding director at both Bee Vradenburg Foundation and Opera Theater of the Rockies; founding partner at Meadowgrass Music Festival; and co-founder of Ride for the Brand Ranch Rodeo and Cattle Drive.
Kathleen was presented with the 2017 Community Arts Award by Theatreworks. She was also a 2007 Woman of Influence, selected by the Colorado Springs Business Journal. Anyone who worked with Kathleen experienced her infectious enthusiasm for the project at hand, as well as her ability to plan for the future.
Promoting the arts in her hometown was her passionate enterprise. "I love Colorado Springs," she said in 2007. "I stayed here because one can actually make a difference here and feel valued. … I feel privileged to have worked with so very many talented, committed and hopeful people."
Kathleen is survived by her son, Joel Collins, his wife, Jill, and grandchildren Sophie and Cooper; her brother Clem Work and sister-in-law Lucia of Missoula, Montana; and sister Amrit Kendrick and brother-in-law Gary, of Perth, Western Australia; nieces Cecily Skye of Montrose, Calif., and Alyssa Work of New York City and nephews Brendan Work of Missoula, Montana, and Rodrigo Kendrick and Diego Kendrick of Perth, as well as their spouses and their seven children.
An appreciation of Kathleen's life and legacy will be hosted at the Ent Center for the Arts on Sunday, June 11.
Donations in Kathleen's memory may be made to the Kathleen Fox Collins Fund of the Colorado Springs Philharmonic Foundation, the Bee Vradenburg Foundation, or Downtown Ventures.