Former SCMS Principal Remembered

Funeral services are set for today for a long-time educator in Stephens County.

Recently retired Stephens County Middle School Principal Donna Collins will be laid to rest later today.

Collins passed away last Saturday at the age of 54.

Stephens County School Superintendent Bryan Dorsey said that Collins will be missed within the community and the school system.

“My first year was her last year with us and I can tell you she was a great lady and certainly put forward a lot of effort for her students and staff and we know that she loved her family and God,” said Dorsey. “She was a great positive influence for us, someone we all could look up to and get guidance from. She certainly will be missed greatly here.”

A graduate of Stephens County High School, Collins served in the Georgia School System for 30 years.

She served as principal at Stephens County Middle School from 2011 until her retirement at the end of this school year. Prior to that, she was an assistant principal at the middle school for six years.

Services for Collins will begin at 3 p.m. today at the Tugaloo Center for the Performing Arts on the campus of Stephens County High School.

Interment will follow in Roselane Cemetery.

Meanwhile, area fire fighters paid tribute to a fallen comrade Monday.

Toccoa fire fighters used their ladder trucks to drape an American flag over Big A Road Monday afternoon in honor and memory of James Edward “Jimmy” Smith, Jr. of Lavonia, who passed away Friday at the age of 65.

Smith was retired from the Georgia Forestry Commission and had also previously served as a State Fire Investigator and an instructor at the Georgia Fire Academy.