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Christine B. Collyer was born on April 11, 1967 in Boston, Massachusetts.
In High School, Tina was active in Youth Ministry—a trend she
would continue for the rest of her life. In 1986, Tina began
her college years in Melbourne, Florida, while working at
SeaWorld in the Education Department. But her dream was not
realized until January 16, 1996 when Tina became an Orlando
Firefighter/EMT. Tina was never one to rest on her laurels.
She not only went back to school and became a Paramedic, but she
got involved in every aspect of the Orlando Fire Department and
its community outreach.
Tina taught CPR, First Aid, CERT,
Citizen Fire Academy and Fire Extinguisher classes for the
Public Relations Division. She served on the Yearbook, Orlando
Fire Museum, and Operation Fireball Committees. She dedicated
herself to the OFD Explorer Program, acting as the Sole Advisor
for many years and the Senior Advisor for many more. In
addition, Tina volunteered eight days a year for Dreamflight,
serving as a paramedic resident for the terminally ill children
from England. She also volunteered for Central Florida Burn
Camp, the Annual OFD Christmas party for Arnold Palmer Hospital,
Extreme Home Makeover, Buddy Walk, and any other event that
asked for OFD participation.
One of Tina’s proudest
accomplishments was being a member of Orlando Fire Department’s Honor Guard. One of the charter members of the
Honor Guard formed in 1997, Tina served under Commander Dan
Fleming her entire career and could be counted on to step up and
serve whenever asked. Even though Tina was passionate about her
chosen career and her OFD family, she dearly loved her own
family.
No one who knew Tina for more than ten minutes had not
heard her speak with love about her niece Maya and nephew Ryan.
She was quick with the stories and could whip out the cutesy
pictures on a moments notice. When her brother moved out of
state, Tina was devastated that Maya and Ryan would be so far
away. But she wracked up her frequent flyer miles traveling
back and forth to see her two favorite people in the whole
world. One of her happiest days was when the kids “came back
home.”
And no story of Tina’s life would be complete
without mentioning her status as a “Grobanite”. Tina
traveled all over the world to attend the concerts of Josh Groban. Her shining Grobanite moment was when she won a phone
call with Josh during a charity auction. Anyone else would be
struck dumb, having an actual phone call with their idol. Not
Tina. She talked a mile a minute, keeping Josh at a loss for
words during most of the one hour phone call.
That was
Tina… always giving, always laughing, always making anyone she
came in contact with feel as though they were the most important
person in the world.
CHRISTINE COLLYER—LAST CALL—OCTOBER 12, 2008
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