Who has ever used Google Earth and not marveled at this piece of technology that allows one to zoom in from space to any point on the planet down to the street level? It represents an amazing degree of American ingenuity and technological prowess accessible to anyone with an Internet-connected smartphone or laptop.
A key individual in seeing that technology brought to life, Paul Collins, recently passed from our midst following an eight-year struggle against cancer. Paul was an extraordinary individual who possessed not only technological brilliance and entrepreneurial savvy, but a basic decency and generosity of spirit that is too often lacking in society today.
My wife and I had the opportunity to meet Paul and his lovely wife, Debbie, decades ago, when their son, Keegan, and our daughter, Colleen, became good buddies in elementary school. Over the years, we would meet at each other’s homes occasionally for Christmas parties, barbecues, or drinks and, despite continuing on to different high schools, Colleen and Keegan would eventually re-unite at the University of Notre Dame, remaining close to this day.
Paul Collins was himself a Notre Dame alumnus, graduating summa cum laude and number one from Notre Dame’s engineering school in 1973. Paul came from a large, salt-of-the-earth Catholic family of eight children in North Dakota, where his father owned a highway construction company that built highway projects in North Dakota and Montana. Building ran in Paul’s blood.
Paul’s biography reads like a quintessential midwestern American success story, even from childhood, as his obituary attests. He was a superb athlete, playing football for seven years, and helping his high school in Fargo establish the longest winning streak of any high school in North Dakotan history. He would later play rugby at Notre Dame. He was an Eagle Scout, a member of the high school student council, and was named North Dakota’s Outstanding Teenager of the Year in 1969, among many other achievements, too numerous to list in this column.
Paul would meet the love of his life, Debbie Shaughnessy, in 1977, and they would marry in Fargo in 1980. Their love and devotion to each other were evident to anyone who had even a passing acquaintance with them. Debbie would give birth to son Christopher in 1988 and, later, Keegan in 1994. Both these talented young men would themselves go on to graduate from Notre Dame.
Paul was extremely gifted in math and science, which would become evident in the succession of top positions he held in numerous technology companies in the Washington, D.C., area. Those businesses ran the gamut, from computer hardware sales and service, to 3D visualization and software, to geospatial modeling.
As successful as he was professionally, I think Paul was even more successful in his personal life. I marveled at Paul’s generous spirit, devotion to his wife and sons, and maintenance of lifelong friendships. Atypical of other hard-charging Washington, D.C., corporate luminaries, Paul was not all about professional and financial success, as accomplished as he was in those areas. It was his community-mindedness which everyone remembers. Whether serving as treasurer of his son’s high school drama club, a Cub Scout den leader, or volunteering, along with Debbie, at a local homeless persons’ resource center, Paul embodied the ethos captured in the saying popularized by Superior General of the Jesuits, the late Father Pedro Arrupe: “A man for others.” Paul Collins was genuinely “a man for others.”
Paul Collins was, above all, a selfless individual. In an age when so many seek to become “influencers” and draw attention to themselves, Paul was all about lifting others up. As one small example among many to illustrate my point, when my daughter was a high school senior and considering colleges, Paul insisted on flying her out to Indiana at his expense to join his son for a Notre Dame vs. USC football game. Paul knew that the experience and excitement of attending that game between these two famous rival teams would be a transformative experience for Colleen and convince her to apply to the home of the Fighting Irish. Sure enough, the next thing I knew, I got a text message from my daughter with a photo of a Notre Dame ski hat and a note, “Dad, I’m in love!” Shocked, I responded, “With whom??” She replied, “With Notre Dame!”
That was Paul. Savvy, generous, and understanding of human nature. Colleen would end up with two degrees from Notre Dame and a lifelong devotion to the Golden Domers, just like Paul.
Paul William Collins was a great American patriot, whose life should be an exemplar for all young Americans. I’m deeply grateful to have known him, Debbie, and their sons.
Paul, May the road rise to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine always on your face.
And, Go Irish!
William F. Marshall has been an intelligence analyst and investigator in the government, private, and non-profit sectors for 39 years. He is a senior investigator for Judicial Watch, Inc., and has been a contributor to Townhall, American Thinker, Epoch Times, The Federalist, American Greatness, and other publications. His work has been featured on CBS News 48 Hours and NBC News Dateline. (The views expressed are the author’s alone, and not necessarily those of Judicial Watch.)