Eva Pauline Glessner

Eva Pauline Collins. Born two and one-half pounds on October 2, 1926. Infant mortality rates were high in those years, especially for those of moderate means. Yet, in the care of a loving mother, who did NOT think she would survive, and a small shoe box, Momma went to work with her mom Tessie and was kept warm behind the cookhouse stove. She survived to be the woman of 99 years that we have loved all our lives. She was the youngest of four siblings: a much loved and companion sister Thelma (Mineard) and rough and tumble brothers Grover and Jim Collins. Her parents were Grover (Tead) Cleveland Collins and Tessie Collins, who made their living “in Apples” in the Wenatchee, Bridgeport, Brewster and Chelan areas; their sons and daughters following suit. She is survived by her daughters, many grandchildren and their offspring, and many nieces and nephews. Though born in Wenatchee, Eva Pauline was raised in Bridgeport. Momma describes life as hard in her early years, yet her folks made it a habit of regularly/often sharing their food with those less fortunate. She talked about the wooden sidewalks in the town, the ‘interesting person’ who ran the “drug store”, her dog Trixie, her friend Barbara Ernsberger, playing with her brothers and participating in some of their antics like the time they took the Model T onto the frozen Columbia River, and it broke through the ice and sank. There was the day she heard the Preacher talk about Salvation and she rode her bike to the river to be baptized. She rode home in the rain, “feeling new and fresh” she said. A new start. She did that on her own. She didn’t even tell her folks. She wrote of her baptism on the wall under a loose piece of wallpaper behind the kitchen stove. She was ten years old. There is mystery surrounding why she didn’t tell her folks, but her decision to follow the Lord was hers, and when Jesus called her, she followed Him. She walked with Him, praised His Name, and sang the great old hymns of the Church until she had no breath left. She ‘grew up’ and at 16, met a man who so quickly fell in love with her. He saw her thinning apples one afternoon and decided she was the one he wanted to spend his life with. Thinking about the handsome man that my dad was, I know she couldn’t resist. It wasn’t long before he asked Tead, her dad, for permission to marry her. Tead wasn’t ‘hip’ to the idea and told Ray that he’d soon forget about Eva Pauline. But he didn’t. And that beauty, Pauline, married that handsome man, Ray, June 30, 1944. They had 3 daughters: Camille (husband Jerry Riggan and children Nathan, Erin, Jerrod); Cassandra (husband Scott Bessire and children Solomon, Pauline) and Carla (husband Mike Boyd and children Libby, Kelsey); 7 grandchildren, 20 great grandchildren and 9 great great grandchildren living, and one grandson and three great grandchildren that she has just now met in Heaven. That’s a big bunch at Christmas time that issued from this union and they all did rise to call her blessed. For she was ... Mom. … Momma. … Gramma. …Budda. …Big Momma. She was a blessing to many in her years in this community. You might have known her as a Bridgeport Cheerleader cheering on the Mustangs and her brothers. You might have known her in the packing line with those blue hands quickly picking up and wrapping the apples produced here in Brewster. You might have known her as the Preacher’s Wife, playing the xylophone and doing chalk drawing, Bible stories, and object lessons. You might have known her from Camp Conconully and maybe served her at the dinner table or sat BY her at lunch. You might have known her from the Community Medical Center, where perhaps she gave you that great Vitamin B shot, cleaned out your ears, or just sat and supported you as you heard hard news from the doctor. You might have seen her at a basketball, baseball, Tee-ball, softball, Football, or volleyball game; maybe at the School Carnival, PTA meeting. You surely saw her at the Log Church Easter egg hunts of yesteryear; Sunday/Wednesday evening services; “League” and Ladies’ Aide meetings; AWANA. She may have even been your Sunday School teacher! You likely saw her at Bridal showers, funerals, the Senior Citizen Center, and Political rallies, calling out USA! USA! And CERTAINLY, you saw her at the voting booth and at the Memorial Day services at our Brewster Cemetery. She was a marvel and lead a vigorous life until her mid-90’s. She had many wishes in her last days. She wished she could have continued writing. She wrote many beautiful letters to her family, and recounting family life, the magnificence of the earth, and the love of her Savior in beautiful deep words - all of which are saved and reread. Some letters, important ones, are hard to read. Some are just plain joyful. She wished to retain the Bible verses she had memorized in her younger years and even in recent days she showed just how deeply planted in her Scripture WAS! In conversation, in review of daily life events and trials– if SHE didn’t initiate Scripture and someone else DID -she would finish and apply it! The Word of GOD was sunk deep in her heart. She wished her vision would have kept up with her desire to read The Word of GOD. She dearly loved to have it read to her! She wished she could have sung the hymns “more on key” she said, but when she started to sing as she frequently did, she finished that still recognizable hymn and completed every verse! She wished she could have continued her practice of visitation. Some of her friends and family who had gone before her, she could not visit in their last days. She wished she could still go and sit in the bleachers inside and out and watch ALL her grandchildren in their pursuits on the fields and courts, in their musicals and concerts. She wished she could have continued Church services. They became less frequent as her physical strength diminished, her hearing dimmed, and her ability to keep up the pace of the sermonizer slowed, but her heart was always there and with the ones with whom she worshipped. She loved the Church. I never met a person she didn’t love, by the way. From her heart --And even those who grieved her in some way -- she loved to the end. It's impossible to condense such a full life like hers, so full of love and devotion, into an obituary. So many of her family will remember being allowed to go barefoot and run through the sprinkler; the days at the poolside; the days at the lake; the Sunday afternoons around the table reviewing the sermon and just loving one another; her prayers; her letters; the songs sung together after nearly every gathering. Oh, there is so much to share about her life -- now gone. Ah, but wait! She is NOT dead! And those of us who follow her lead will see her again because Jesus said, “If you live in Me – if you believe in Me --- you will never die but have everlasting life! Do you BELIEVE this???” And there is ABSOLUTELY NO DOUBT about it – she BELIEVED; and WE believe. She made it her AIM to be pleasing to Him. Yes, she talked often about seeing and being with Ray and so missed him since he left us here in 2011, but she always said, “I want to see my Savior first ---Jesus First.” And she did. All is well. Services for Pauline will be as follows: Visitation at Barnes Chapel Friday, April 17, 2026 from 4:00 to 8:00 PM. Funeral services will be at Grace Bible Ministries, 1113 W. Indian Avenue, Brewster on Saturday, April 18, 2026 at 10:00 AM. Private family interment will follow in Chelan. Services are entrusted to Barnes Chapel of Brewster.

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Eva Pauline Glessner

October 2, 1926 - March 14, 2026