John J. Collins, former Yardley resident, died peacefully at home in Newtown, CT, on May 9, 2026.
Born July 28, 1929, in Trenton, NJ, to John A. and Mary (neé Durcan) Collins, John grew up on the old 6,500-acre King Farms in Falls Township, where he developed a lifelong sense of adventure. He was predeceased by his sisters Rita Wilkinson and Claire Collier, and his beloved wife of 55 years, Kathleen Ann (neé Pagano).
Educated at Northeast Catholic High School for Boys in Philadelphia, John earned his pilot’s license at 16. He went on to Johns Hopkins, where he majored in philosophy and joined the Army ROTC program, then enrolled at Harvard Law School. His ROTC commission brought him to the 82nd Airborne Division during the Korean War, where nineteen parachute jumps, he said, renewed his Catholic faith. He left the Army as a captain, spent a year in Paris on the GI Bill—studying at the Sorbonne, riding a motorcycle down the Champs-Élysées, writing a novel—then returned to complete his law degree
After two restless years practicing law, he spent three years in Madrid teaching, writing, and working through the Bible and Aquinas. He returned to Bucks County in 1961 and built a distinguished career as a trial lawyer — public defender, assistant district attorney, then more than 45 years in private practice covering criminal, personal injury, family, and estate law. He won a notable civil case before the Pennsylvania Court of Appeals in the late 1970s.
In 1967, John married Kathleen Pagano, former Miss Bucks County, “the girl of my 37-year-old dreams.” They traveled extensively and raised three children. A devoted philosophical mind, he published Seeing the Unseen: Opening the Closed Circuit of Everyday Consciousness and never stopped reading and writing. He was a lifelong Philadelphia Eagles fan.
After Kathleen’s death in 2022, John moved into assisted living in Connecticut, where he continued philosophizing and planning his next book until the end.
He is survived by his children Kevin (Rachael), Krista (Brett) and Kara (Nicholas), and grandchildren Maria, Lucinda, Oliver, Philippa, Kyle and Tallulah.