Betty Joyce Wrenn Collins

Betty Joyce Wrenn Collins, age 92, of Lyons, Georgia, passed peacefully into the Arms of God surrounded by her loving family on Tuesday, August 5, 2025, in Walterboro, South Carolina, following an extended illness.

She was born on October 24, 1932, in Tattnall County, Georgia, to the late Remer Lester Wrenn and  the late Annie Betty Findley Wrenn. She was raised near Collins and was a 1949 graduate of Collins High School. She was a long time member of First Baptist Church of Lyons, which she loved, having been a faithful Christian from early in life and was always active in her church until she could not be. Joyce started her career in administration with Camden County school system in Woodbine, Georgia, although she counted being a wife and mother to her three children as her greatest joy. She lived in South Carolina for many years, including in Walterboro, working in administration for the Colleton County school system in South Carolina and later the South Carolina Department of Social Services. Later she made Lyons, Georgia, her home when she married Wilson E. Collins in 1977. She was owner of the Toombs County Service Center in Lyons that her husband established for the Developmentally Disabled residents of Toombs over fifty years ago when his daughter Carol Ann was in need of services. It became her passion, as well, as she helped her husband, and it was very dear to her heart. Her care for children in need was also shown by serving as a member of the Toombs County Judicial Case Review Panel, a part of The Council of Juvenile Court Judges of Georgia Permanent Homes for Children Program. Always wanting to stay abreast of affairs involving her community, Joyce became a member of the Lyons Lions Club for many years. The City of Lyons showed their love and appreciation for her service and dedication to their community through the years by asking her to be the Grand Marshall of the 2022 Christmas Parade. Joyce was known for her sweet and kind nature, never meeting a stranger, and making it a point to talk to almost everyone who came in her path. It was a sincere and true gift she had …to take the time to connect with others, which is so needed in this fast-paced world. Even in her last days, her prayer every morning was to make someone else’s life a little brighter that day, as she felt that was God’s purpose for her! She was the ultimate cheerleader for her children and grandchildren, whom she loved fiercely, but her encouragement was not limited to her family.  In 2021, the Lyons Lions Club created the “Club Spirit Award” for Lion Joyce Collins, “For the beautiful smiles and strong encouragement she constantly gives the officers and members of the Lyons Lions Club inspiring them to rise to their very best,” which she appreciated so much. She will be missed so much by her family and friends, whom she loved and who loved her.

In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by her husband, Wilson E. Collins, in 1990; Wilson’s daughter, Carol Ann Collins, a daughter she loved and raised as her own; and her ten brothers and sisters.

Her surviving family includes three children, Billy David Collins and wife Deborah of Clemson, South Carolina, Joy Delilah Collins Lyle of Walterboro, and Elton Dean Collins and wife Linda of Ocean Breeze, Florida; seven grandchildren, Christopher David Collins and wife Kelly, Lafayette Strait Lyle, IV and wife Christin, Ryan Collins Lyle and wife Shana, Fraysse Wrenn Lyle, Cason David Collins, Jared Michael Collins, and Jacob Daniel Collins; her five great-grandchildren, Coldin Brantley Lyle, Grace Cameron Collins, South Strait Lyle, Adalee Elizabeth Lyle, and Cypress Rose Lyle; and numerous nieces and nephews, all whom she loved dearly. Wilson’s granddaughter, Karen Culpepper Faulkenberry and her husband Eric, along with sons Alec Devon and Colin Patrick, Joyce considered her own as well.

The funeral service will be held on Saturday, August 9, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary of First Baptist Church of Lyons with Reverend Dannie Williams officiating. Interment will follow at Lyons City Cemetery, with a brief graveside service.

The family will receive friends in the Fellowship Hall of the First Baptist Church of Lyons from 1:00 p.m. until just prior to the service.