Jim Collinsworth passed away on June 7, 2018 at age 80. He was preceded in death by his sisters Lena Collinsworth and Phyllis Bellew, his son Barry Brent Collinsworth, and his granddaughter Elizabeth Jean Collinsworth. Jim is survived by his sister Emma Jean Bugg of Colorado Springs, his brother Greg Collinsworth of Olive Hill, Kentucky, his children Mitchell, Troy, Kyle, Gail Granville, and Brett, his grandchildren Kyle, Tiffany, Jasmine, Brittany, Melissa, Cassandra, Ffion, Brianna, Nathan, Hannah, Carwyn, Graham, Shaley, and Savannah, and his great-grandchildren Kyle II, Anthony, and Natalie.
Jim is the son of Oscar and Elizabeth Haney Collinsworth. After the death of his mother when he was very young, he was raised by his aunt and uncle, Walter and Mim (Clemma Haney) Short, who were like parents to him. He always enjoyed spending time at his Uncle Ronnie Haney's farm with his cousin Darrell. He graduated from Ashland High School in 1955, where he fell in love with photography, which became his first profession.
Jim attended Anderson College where he became the school photographer. He graduated in 1964 after marrying and starting a family. After graduation he moved to Indianapolis where he was employed as a civilian photographer at Fort Benjamin Harrison.
In 1967 he moved to Rochester, New York to take a position as an advertising executive at Eastman Kodak. Some of his favorite memories from his days at Kodak included the first lunar landing in 1969 (photos from the landing printed on Kodak paper), a TV commercial that aired on Little House on the Prairie, and the introduction of a new type of film for action photography at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. Jim lived in Macedon for many years before moving to the lake shore in Sodus Point.
Jim’s favorite hobby was amateur radio, which he began in college. In Rochester he joined RARA (Rochester Amateur Radio Association) and Army MARS (Military Affiliate Radio System), became active in emergency preparedness, and was eventually named Emergency Coordinator for Western New York. Shortly after, Hurricane Agnes struck in 1972 and under Jim's leadership the ham radio operators became the communications backbone into numerous cities and towns across the southern tier of New York, many of which had become isolated after the failure of their own radio and telephone systems due to flooding.
In retirement Jim remained active in RARA activities while also enjoying spending time with his grandchildren at his beach-front home in Sodus Point.
A celebration of life service will be held on Saturday, July 14, 2018 at 11 AM at the Seneca Community Church, 5738 State Route 96, Romulus, NY. There are no calling hours.
