Mr. James Donald "Don" Collette, age 82, of Trion, GA, died early Saturday morning, December 19, 2015, at Floyd Medical Center.  For the last year, Don was a resident of the Oakview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Summerville, GA, where he continued to battle the progressive muscle-wasting disease that affected the last decade of his life. 

Mr. Collette was born January 6, 1933, son of the late Joseph Wesley Collette, Sr. and Sallie Tillery Collette.  He graduated Trion High School in 1952 and joined the United States Air Force where he proudly served until 1956.  He married Miss Shirley Head on March 12, 1955, and they have been happily married for 60 years.  As a young man, he worked in the Cotton Warehouse at Riegel Textiles, and was then employed for over 32 years by General Electric, where he retired in 1995.  He was an active member of the Pennville Christian Missionary Alliance Church.  Don loved to read his Bible and westerns by Zane Grey and Louis Lamour.  Anyone that knew Don knew of his outgoing and loving personality.  He was fun-loving, a big talker who kept everyone laughing, and he never met a stranger.  His grandchildren were his special buddies, and he was their Gann.  He lived a long, fulfilling life, and his family can rejoice in knowing he is with the Lord.  In addition to his parents, Mr. Collette was preceded in death by his brothers, Joseph Collette, Jr. and Jessie Collette; and his sisters, Brenda Collette, Hazel Scoggins, Helen Thomas, and Dorothy Grimard. 

Mr. Collette is survived by his wife, Shirley Head Collette; his son, Timothy (Robin) Collette; daughter, Donna Collette (Terry) Hurley; sister, Jeannie Cowan; granddaughters, Miranda (Jacob) Reed, Haven Hurley, Bailey Collette, and Maggie Collette.  Several nieces and nephews also survive. 

Funeral services for Mr. Collette will be held at 3:00 P.M. Sunday, December 20, 2015, from the Mason Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Waydell Howell and Mr. Bill Moore officiating.  Interment will follow in the Greenhills Memory Gardens.  Active pallbearers will be John Collette, Jimmy Collette, Johnny Collette, Ricky Sprayberry, Mike Head, and Steve Palmer.  Honorary pallbearers will be the Pennville Christian Missionary Alliance Encouragers Sunday School Class and the C-Hall nurses of Oakview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. 

Mr. Collette will be in state at Mason Funeral Home and the family will receive friends from 1:00 P.M. until the hour of service on Sunday. 

Mason Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements for Mr. James Donald "Don" Collette who died on Saturday.