Carol Josephine Bandel Collins

Carol Josephine (Bandel) Collins died peacefully at the Denver Hospice on Saturday April 30, 2016. Carol was a Colorado native, the only daughter of Minnesota transplants John F. and Mary C. Bandel. She was married to formula racer Danny Collins for 46 years. Together they raised five children - Kevin, Kerry, David (Heather), Peter and Stephen, all presently living in Colorado. She and Dan lived for a few years in England, where Kerry was born. Carol Jo attended Dora Moore Elementary School in Capitol Hill. She graduated from St. Mary's Academy in southeast Denver in 1956 and briefly attended the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, MN. She spent many enjoyable childhood summers at various lakeside cabins with her many cousins, aunts and uncles in Minnesota. Carol met Dan Collins through mutual friends and they married in 1958. She was a homemaker for many years, and later served in various office positions in the Denver area including as a receptionist at a North Denver health clinic. She loved her job as an administrative assistant at the Community College of Denver, Auraria, where she earned her Associate of Arts degree in mid-life. Her last role prior to retirement was as a part-time companion to a perky 94-year old Mayfair resident! Carol was a longtime Park Hill Neighborhood resident and member of the Blessed Sacrament Catholic parish. She was active in various church, school and broader community groups, among them the Greater Park Hill Community, the Junior Great Books discussion group, the Park Hill Co-op Bookstore, the Food Bank of the Rockies, the Altar & Rosary Society, the Girl Scouts, the Blessed Sacrament dinner club, PTA, Ladies' Prayer Group, and a musical theater troupe where she once enjoyed playing the lead role in a melodrama fundraiser. She supported local cultural institutions like the Museum of Nature and Science, the Denver Art Museum, Denver Botanic Gardens and the Denver Public Library, fostering a love of artistic and educational pursuits in her children. Carol spent many hours gardening, baking and caring for her home and her children. A good friend commented that her colorful house was ""decorated with love"". She enjoyed reading and writing short stories and poetry. She spent many summer weekends volunteering her time at auto races and rallies, working as a timer and as a corner worker for the Sports Car Club of America at the Continental Divide Raceway and at race tracks in Aspen, Colorado Springs, Steamboat Springs, La Junta and Pueblo, CO, while cheering on her racer husband. She accompanied Dan around the country as he competed and as he taught drivers' school. Later in life she drove her own surprise birthday gift, a vintage Alpha Romeo (red, of course), competitively as a member of the Colorado (Ladies) Vintage Racing Club. Carol loved traveling, having visited Italy and The Netherlands in addition to England and many states including Hawaii. She was especially happy to be in attendance at the Lake Juliana, Florida wedding of her beloved grandson, Nicholas Maes to Jessica Jones, currently residing in the New York City area. Among her many legacies were her charity and generosity. Carol cared for her mother Mary when she was stricken with Alzheimer's Disease; in turn, she herself received loving care in recent years principally from her son Stephen and Peter and her other children, and by the staff at the Gardens at St. Elizabeth in North Denver. She leaves behind many smiles and many wonderful friends and memories.