George Collins

George Michael Collins, (MAJ, Retired) of North Little Rock, age 76, passed away on March 2, 2026, after a 3 plus year battle with cancer.

He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Deborah (CSM, Ret) son Brent, brother Joe L. Collins (Denise) of Lowell, brother-in-law Bobby Pederson and several nieces, nephews and cousins.

He was born in Bentonville, AR and lived in Northwest Arkansas until he met the love of his life, Debbie. He moved to North Little Rock in 1977, and they were married in January 1978. He was a lifelong tradesman and a certified Master Electrician who worked for several companies in Central Arkansas over the years. Many called him, “Big Mike”.

He enlisted in the Arkansas Army National Guard on September 5, 1968. He served 23 years, where most of his assignments were with the 142nd Field Artillery Brigade. He later attended Officer Candidate School, Arkansas Military Academy, Class 18, and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in May 1975. He had a love for marksmanship and firearms. He shot competitively on the State Pistol Team for several years. He served on an Active Guard and Reserve tour with the Joint Readiness Training Center as an Observer Controller attached to the 509th Infantry Regiment (Airborne) from July 1987 until April 1991. He retired from the AR ARNG on November 4, 1991.

Mike was a man that could do just about anything he set his mind to. One of his personal accomplishments that he was proud of was the building his and Debbie’s dream home on property they purchased before they even married. When Debbie said once she would like to have a classic red truck, Mike looked until he found one and spent 3 years rebuilding and restoring her a Red 1954 GMC truck (despite his cancer). It was finally finished in June of 2024, and they got to spend some time together on Arkansas road trips.

His family describes him as a man of exceptional fortitude. Since 2012, he has endured Congestive Heart Failure, a heart transplant on November 15, 2015, a crushed kneecap with two surgeries, a broken hip with partial hip replacement and metastatic cancer, “Just to mention the big things”, as Mike would say. He never talked about quitting and during his battle with cancer, he always told his oncologist, “Whatever it takes Doc!”.

He had many interests outside of his work and military service. He had his private pilots license with over 1,000 hours. He loved to bird hunt. He was an avid bird hunter as a teenager with his bird dog Rump. Him and Sam Walton hunted together frequently in his youth. He later returned to bird hunting pheasants in Iowa with his bird dog Tazzman. It was one thing he still wanted to do again before he passed.

The family would like to express their sincere appreciation to all his doctors and nurses at the Baptist Health Heart Institute, BH Cardiac Floor (8), and CARTI Cancer Center for their excellent and loving care. They will always be remembered.

A graveside service will be held at 1:00 PM on Tuesday March, 17th, 2026 at Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery (1501 W Maryland Ave, North Little Rock, AR 72120). Attendees are asked to join the procession at the Walmart Parking Lot in Sherwood for an escort to the cemetery by the Patriot Guard Riders by 12:30 PM.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to any of the following organizations:

CARTI Foundation

P.O. Box 55011

Little Rock, AR 72215

Heart of Faith Fund

Baptist Health Foundation,

9601 Baptist Health Drive

Little Rock, AR 72205

Hillcrest Community Church

5520 Woodlawn Drive

Little Rock, AR 72205

Services entrusted to Smith North Little Rock Funeral Home (1921 Main Street, NLR, AR 72114).