CUMBERLAND – Dr. Allison Jo Collins passed away on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022, ending her long and courageous battle with cancer. She died peacefully surrounded by loving family.

Allison was born on Sept. 20, 1957, in Miami, Fla., to Harold Rosen and Joan Beckerman Rosen. She spent her childhood and formative years with her loving big brother, Jonathan Rosen, in Miami. To pursue her passion for ballet, she attended college at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where she graduated with a BFA (Honors) in dance in 1979. After graduation, she pursued her ballet career initially with Atlanta Ballet in GA, then moved on to the Atlantic Contemporary Ballet in Atlantic City. She then took a position as a professional ballerina in Tel Aviv at the Israel Ballet from 1981-1984. 

Allison returned to the U.S. in 1984 where she embarked on a career in her family lighting manufacturing business in Miami, but after a couple of years she moved to Denver where she met and married her first husband, architect Douglas Darden. Doug tragically died from leukemia after a year of marriage. His death stirred Allison’s interest in grief counseling, so she completed an MA degree in family and grief counseling at University of Colorado-Denver in 2003. She then earned her PsyD degree in clinical psychology in August 2008.

Intrigued by New England, Allison moved to Portland, in 2008 for post-doctoral training and to start her clinical psychology career. It was here that she met her future husband, Dr. T. Edward Collins. They wed on Dec. 31, 2011, and spent many very happy years together. He was lovingly at her bedside at her death.

Allison loved nature and its beauty. Nothing energized her more than continuing her ballet passion with lessons and occasional performances, even as recently as her role in Victorian Nutcracker in Portland in 2018. She was a practicing psychologist until her retirement in April 2022. She was a dear friend to many. She was a bright light of love and inspiration to her husband, Edward, and family.

In lieu of flowers, Allison would appreciate donations to either Portland Ballet (www.portlandballet.org/giving) or METAvivor, a charity specifically created for metastatic breast cancer research (www.metavivor.org/take-action/donate/)