Eunice McCollum

Services for Mrs. McCollum will be a Visitation, Sunday February 11, 2018 at Broecker Funeral Home, from 5:00PM to 7:00PM. On Monday, February 12 a visitation and service will be at Salado Church of Christ starting at 10:00 AM. Interment will be at Texas State Veterans Cemetery, Killeen starting at 12:00 PM. Rev. Joseph Keyes is officiating.

Eunice W. McCollum peacefully passed away in her sleep and went to be with our Lord on the evening of January 31, 2018. She was born August 15th, 1927 to Curt and Jesse Bennett of Osage Texas in Coryell County. Hers was a family of strong and hardy colonial and pioneer stock having had ancestors at the Jamestown colony in Virginia in the early 1600's and arriving at Ft. Gates (now Gatesville) in 1849.

Eunice grew up in the countryside between the peaceful and sleepy farming communities of Osage and Oglesby with 3 brothers and a sister, picking her share of cotton and attending High School in Oglesby.

By the late 1940's she was living in Waco and was a highly valued member of the team at S. H. Kress Variety Store where she was both a buyer and kept the books. Her boss described her as “alarmingly efficient” and ran all important buying decisions past her.

In 1947 she met her soon to be husband Robert W. McCollum and they were married on Christmas Eve of 1948. They were married for 69 years before her passing and she spent that time applying this “alarming efficiency” to everything in her life. She was a great and loving mom who always put her sons, grandkids, and husband first.

By the early seventies, Eunice and Bob had lived in many places both in Louisiana and Texas, going wherever Bob's work designing oil drilling equipment for Otis Engineering had taken them. By the mid seventies, now living in the country outside of Plano, Texas and wanting to put down roots, Bob and their older son Winston decided to start their own business. McCollum's Auto Center first opened in downtown Plano in 1976 and just 2 years later moved into their newly built and expanded location on E. Parker Rd. where Winston still runs it to this day. From day one, Eunice did all the bookkeeping which required half a day every weekday and more at tax time. She continued in this capacity until the day came in the early 90's for them to retire, turn the place over to Winston, and start a new chapter in their lives.

Back in the 80's Bob and Eunice had purchased a beautiful small ranch property in rural Bosque County outside Cranfills Gap. On this property was a quiet, high hilltop site with the incredible view that they and everyone who visited them came to love so much. When Bob and Eunice moved to Bosque County, being who they were, they didn't slow down. They threw themselves into what life had to offer in this small but tight knit community and became very active in the local Methodist Church and volunteer work of all kinds.

Eunice served on the church council as both Trustee and Treasurer, worked in the polling places during elections, and served continuously stating in 1993 in the Goar Valley, Texas Extension Education Association. In 2007 she was honored with the title Woman of the Year for her tireless work there.

In 2008, now in their 80's, they made the decision to leave their beautiful hilltop and move to Prairie Dell to be nearer to their son Les who lives in Salado.

Eunice was preceded in death by her parents, her sister Amanda, Her brothers James, Johnny, and Curt Jr. and her beloved cousins J. M. and Dean.

She is survived by her husband, two sons, Winston McCollum and wife Cindy of Plano and Leslie McCollum and partner Richard Teeler of Salado; two grand children, Ross McCollum of Wylie and Brenna McCollum of Austin. She is also survived by sister in law Corrine Bennett and many family members that still live in the Oglesby and Waco area and all over Texas and the US.