Jacob Ryan Collins, 36, formerly of Austin, Minnesota, passed away in his sleep at his parents’ home in Longville, Minnesota, Friday, Aug. 25.

Jacob was born on April 27, 1981, in Davenport, Iowa. He was an avid sportsman and played youth baseball, soccer and tennis. Jacob was part of the original Austin traveling soccer teams and a member of the first Austin High School soccer team. He was an Iowa Hawkeye and Green Bay Packers fan. He also like fishing both in summer and winter. But his ultimate love was skiing down the black diamond slopes in Colorado.

Jacob attended Faith Church with his family, and was part of the youth group and teen Sunday School class. He went on several mission trips to New Orleans, Louisiana, to make home repairs and help with games for the children living in the projects.

Jacob graduated from AHS in 1999, Augsburg College in 2003, and earned his master’s degree from the University of Denver in 2007 in international affairs. He loved traveling around the U.S. and abroad, and during his college years did internships in Costa Rica, Germany, southern Europe, and war-torn Serbia.   While in Serbia he and his team taught English to children and helped older teens learn how to prepare resumes. They also restored a couple homes that families had not lived in for several years because of the war; one family was able to return to their home after nine years of living separately with other people.  It was an experience he was proud to be a part of.

Jacob served in the U.S. Army for five years. He graduated from Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, and spent time in China as part of his training. He was assigned to Army Intelligence in Hawaii as a Chinese Cryptologic Linguist.  He also worked in Washington D.C. and Afghanistan. Currently he was a sergeant in the Army Reserves at Ft. Meade, Maryland. He was in Longville waiting for his visa to work out-of-country.

He is survived by his parents, Jerry and Bonnie (Butts) Collins of Longville; sister, Jennifer (Steve) Delhanty; and brother, Andrew Collins; as well as nieces Abigail (Collins), Alison and Emily (Delhanty) and nephew Jackson (Delhanty), and several aunts, uncles and cousins.

Jacob was preceded in death by both maternal grandparents and paternal grandmother.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 31, at Longville Bible Chapel, Longville. Lunch will follow the service.

Jacob’s care has been entrusted to the Northern Peace Funeral Home of Walker, Minnesota. Online condolences for the family may be given at www.northernpeace.com.