Mary "Pat" (Lewis) Collias

Mary Patricia ‘Pat’ Collias (nee Lewis), 81, of Harper Woods, MI, passed away peacefully on Tuesday April 19, 2022, at American House Freedom Place in Roseville, MI.   She was born June 29, 1940 to Walter & Kathleen ‘Phoebe’ Lewis in Metropolis, Ill. (now deceased).  She was the loving wife of 45 years to James Collias of Harper Woods.  Pat passed on their wedding anniversary.  She worked at Ford Motor Company for many years after moving to Michigan from Illinois. 

She loved nature, bird watching, antiquing, beach combing, gardening in the award winning ‘Collias Garden’ in Harper Woods along with hosting the several hundred guests that would tour the garden each year in the summer months, she loved being out in the sun.  She was loving and kind and loved to hand feed all kinds of animals.  She really loved chimpanzees the most.  She was also a creative person and artist, drawing, painting, creating stained glass works, and crafting beautiful things.

Pat loved to travel and was able to experience beautiful places all around the world like the American West, East Coast, National Parks throughout the U.S., Hawaii, Florida Keys, Africa, Greece, and Great Britain.

Pat is the third born of her siblings, James Lewis (Shirley), Caroline ‘Sue’ Johnson, Betty Jessing, and a pre-deceased brother and sister, Robert ‘Skeet’ Lewis (Tish), Ona ‘Cricket’ White.

She is survived by her son Michael Smiddy (Tracy), and her extended family George Collias (Ann), Peter Collias (Rebekah), Mari Barnett (Ken)

She loved her grandchildren Shelby & Jon Smiddy, Megan (Chad) Beskange, Madeleine (Zac) Lynch, James ‘Jimmy’ Collias, Emily Barnett, Alexandra (Jordon) Wertheimer, and Jacob (Madeline) Barnett.

She was also a grandmother to 7 great grandchildren and a loving aunt to 17 nieces and nephews.

A grave side service will be held at the Masonic Cemetery in Metropolis on May 4, 2022 - 11:00am, at the Lewis family plot.  A celebration of life luncheon will follow at Seven Mile Baptist Church in Metropolis for family and friends.  Please bring your happy memories.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made on Pat's behalf to Transitions Care hospice in Troy, MI, transitionscare.com; or the Jane Goodall Institute for chimpanzees, janegoodall.org.

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