Thomas LeRoy Collins Jr. (1934–2010) was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

officer, businessman, and political figure. Collins was the son of former

Florida Governor The governor of Florida is the head of government of the state of Florida and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Florida ...

LeRoy Collins Thomas LeRoy Collins (March 10, 1909 – March 12, 1991) was an American politician who served as the 33rd Governor of Florida. Collins began his governorship after winning a special election in 1954, was elected to a four-year term in 1956 ...

and a fifth-generation Floridian. He graduated from the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of ...

in 1956 and served in the

and

United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Se ...

( submarines) for 34 years, retiring as a

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star " admiral" rank. It is often rega ...

. His civilian career was in the

high-tech High technology (high tech), also known as advanced technology (advanced tech) or exotechnology, is technology that is at the cutting edge: the highest form of technology available. It can be defined as either the most complex or the newest tec ...

financial services Financial services are the economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, accountancy companie ...

and

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more genera ...

industries and spanned 36 years. Collins ran in the U.S. Senate Republican primary for Florida in 2006, but lost to

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

Katherine Harris Katherine Harris (born April 5, 1957) is a former American politician. A Republican, Harris served in the Florida Senate from 1994 to 1998, as Secretary of State of Florida from 1999 to 2002, and as a member of the United States House of Repres ...

. He came in third place, gaining 15.3 percent of the vote. Newly elected Governor

Charlie Crist Charles Joseph Crist Jr. (; born July 24, 1956) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 44th governor of Florida from 2007 to 2011 and as the U.S. representative for from 2017 to 2022. Crist has been a member of the Democrati ...

appointed Collins as Executive Director of the

Florida Department of Veterans Affairs The Florida Department of Veterans' Affairs (FDVA) is a government agency of the state of Florida under the authority of the Governor of Florida charged with helping veterans and their families to receive all benefits they are legally entitled to. ...

. Collins died on July 29, 2010, in Tampa, Florida, after an SUV collided with him while he was riding his bicycle.

References

External links

Official websiteBio as Director of Veterans Affairs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Leroy, Jr. Florida Republicans 2010 deaths 1934 births State cabinet secretaries of Florida United States Naval Academy alumni Road incident deaths in Florida United States Navy rear admirals