Bill Collins: Software designer focuses on faith, service

Feb. 4—"Navigation" has been a major concept for Bill Collins through most of his life. Dozens of local taxpayers know the Navy veteran for his ability to help them find their way through the IRS' annual challenges, and the concept also comes into play in his daily life as an active parishioner at St. Mary Help of Christians Church.

It's familiar territory, as the future software designer grew up in the Boston area as the only child in a Catholic family. His parents, William and Mary Collins, were "artists and musicians, well-read, inquisitive and intelligent people," he recalled.

The road led to a physics degree from Harvard in 1963 and a Navy assignment that led him to his future wife, Beverly, who was a Navy nurse. They have three adult children, spread around the United States (Pennsylvania, Alaska and Colorado) and "we have a Zoom session with them about once a week," Collins noted.

Collins' 20 years in the Navy also included nuclear power training, helping clear the way for work with Westinghouse and, starting in 1991, a job at the Savannah River Site. He managed high-level nuclear waste prior to counseling low- and modest-income taxpayers.

A few years later, the SRS employee and retired Navy captain added another major acronym to his life. His work in VITA — Volunteer Income Tax Assistance — has put Odell Weeks Activity Center on his radar every year, from February into April. The result is free help for hundreds of local residents in preparing their tax forms.

Some local residents know the 81-year-old as a member of the Knights of Columbus. Others, farther afield, have connected with Collins via involvement in an ecumenism campaign supported by the Catholic Diocese of Charleston, with a variety of churches having representatives meet for prayer and to discuss their priorities together.

Interfaith dialogue has been another Collins priority. "A group in the Columbia area founded Interfaith Partners of South Carolina. I got involved with them, and then drew together an Interfaith group in the Aiken area. Our local Interfaith group, called Aiken Interfaith Partners, comprises Christians, Jews, Latter-Day Saints (Mormons), Unitarians, Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs and others," he wrote.

The goal, he added, is "is to build mutual understanding, friendship and cooperation for the common good among people of different religions."

Collins "has a genuine concern and caring for the people that we serve," in the words of VITA volunteer Jo Ellen McMahan. "That's probably it in a nutshell. He's one of those people who wants to make sure everybody gets the help that they need."

The service is consistent with his core beliefs, Collins noted. "I'm a devout Catholic Christian. I'm motivated by my Christian faith, to love my neighbor as myself, and this is all part of that."

The local VITA corps includes 20-25 people in a typical year, fluent in the language of W-2s, 1040s and 1099s, and Collins was the site coordinator from 2010 to 2021.

"Bill is our biggest cheerleader," in the words of VITA volunteer Rick Benton. "He's right out there at the front of the parade."

Benton, now in his 28th year with VITA, is among Collins' admirers. He recalled that VITA, when Collins came on board, was a one-computer operation, and Collins helped clear the way for local residents to make sense out of their wages, salaries, tips, interest, dividends and capital gains and losses.

He said Collins worked harmoniously with Aiken City Council, United Way and Area Churches Together Serving, and the result was assistance in acquiring laptop computers, printers, paper and related supplies.

"He got funding for the whole shebang," Benton said. "He just did a real professional job, and even though he's backed out of that role, the guy we've got is another ... guy in the Bill Collins image, so he's very professional, too ... I can't lavish enough praise on Bill."

Dealing with income taxes, Collins said, can be intimidating.

"A lot of people, including me, anyway, are kind of intimidated by the whole process. I'm an engineer — a scientist, by background, so thinking quantitatively and logically is part of my background," he said.

There is tremendous satisfaction in "helping low-income people get their tax returns done properly and accurately and filed promptly, so they can get the tax credits that they're entitled to," he added.

"You don't have to be an accountant to be a good volunteer in this program. You have to be able to read the book and think logically and apply that logic to the completion of the tax return. Now we, of course, depend on the taxpayers having all the correct documentation for their whatever income and deductions and so on that they may have."

"You have to be comfortable talking with people, asking them questions, listening to them, answering their questions, involving them in the process to some extent, and just taking your time and following the rules and doing it right. I mean ... that's basically it."

Collins also welcomed the opportunity to address ideas of major tax reform.

"There are ... people who would like to do away with income tax, which I think is crazy, and there are ... people who would like to do away with the IRS, which is insane, and so on."

As for the agency in question, he added, "I have to give the IRS a lot of credit. They take the tax laws, which the Congress changes every year, and they translate the tax laws into intelligible forms and instructions, and, of course, the software companies also develop software that intelligibly deals with the tax law changes every year. So there are a lot of people don't like the IRS. I think the IRS is an excellent institution does a marvelous job with the junk that the Congress gives them every year."

He also reconsidered the word "junk," and opted instead for "tax-law changes," some of which are introduced near the end of a calendar year, "and the IRS has to work like beavers to produce the necessary documents and forms and so on to deal with those tax-law changes."

IRS employees, he said, are "very diligent, hard-working people," and city employee Rasheeka Gaines was "just wonderful" in helping the VITA crew expand and improve its services.

Efforts, via Collins' talents, included building software to help the VITA crew keep up with clients and volunteers alike.

"I started learning how to use develop that kind of software ... about 20-25 years ago, I guess. I'm not a software developer by past profession. It's something I took up as a hobby 20-25 years ago, and I've become relatively adept at it."

He provided similar computer help for his church and for ACTS, helping to deal with concerns such as meetings, equipment and building maintenance.

"Bill's been a great mentor," said Jim Heffner, a VITA volunteer, who described Collins as patient, thorough and knowledgeable in his interaction with clients.

Bob Hood, also a VITA volunteer described Collins as dedicated, community-minded and service-driven.

"In terms of the VITA program, Bill is quite demanding of its volunteers, if you will, and he is highly respected for his devotion to the program and ... keeping the ship on course," Hood said.

The concept is familiar to Collins, a Navy man who has maintained a strong interest in nautical life. "I used to sail quite a bit, and I'm still a member of the Augusta Sailing Club," he noted.

He is planning to head for Massachusetts in June to attend his class' 60th reunion, with the chance to rekindle relationships that touched on such academic fields as biology, DNA, math, cryptology and architecture.

Collins' formative years included seeing the USS Constitution ("Old Ironsides"), which was launched in 1797 and now resides in Boston Harbor. "My parents took me to visit that ship when I was a little kid, and I was fascinated by it, and I visited that ship many times ... It's the oldest commissioned warship in the world."

He also related the concept of seamanship as it relates to discipleship, referring to the church as "the boat of St. Peter."

"The successor of Peter is the Bishop of Rome, otherwise known as the Pope, and we consider the church to be the bark of Peter — Peter's boat," he said, using an old-English word.

Jim Deskevich, a parishioner at St. Mary's, knows Collins largely through their mutual roles as Knights of Columbus."He actively sings every weekend in the choir at St. Mary's. He also leads the Tuesday morning men's prayer group for St. Mary's, which is kind of like a Bible study and a mass," Deskevich said. "He is active within the Diocese of Charleston's right-to-life and their religious programs."

Collins is "very conscientious," in the assessment of Wayman Johnson, a parishioner at St. Gerard Catholic Church.

"He's our finance expert in the Knights of Columbus, and a very detail-competent guy. That pretty well describes him, in whatever he takes on, and he's a pretty good singer," Johnson said, noting that Collins is reliable in helping sing the national anthem at Knights of Columbus meetings.

Suzanne Jackson, ACTS' executive director, commented, "He's been a volunteer of ACTS for numerous years. He's been a board president. He's been a longtime interviewer of our clients and yes, he did develop a software which enables us to track our ... data."

She added, "He is brilliant, and ... very passionate about what he does, and he has a passion for the clients whenever he's interviewing and he is always looking at how he can helps ACTS best serve the needs of the individuals that he interviews. He's been a loyal volunteer and a nice person to work with."

Karen Perry, ACTS' operating manager, recalled Collins' role in her her introduction to ACTS, in 2004. "I came in with no experience in non-profits, but he was very patient, teaching me the database which he designed and keeps adapting to our current needs."

Collins is "in whatever we ask him," she added. "He helps us, especially during COVID, to look at new ways we need to deliver our program services, and how we can adapt to doing that."