WASHINGTON, D.C. — MSNBC’s “Meet the Press Daily” host Chuck Todd on Friday, March 2, congratulated U.S. Senator Susan Collins’ parents, Don and Pat Collins of Caribou, on celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary on Feb. 28.
Mr. and Mrs. Collins first met as students at the University of Maine and were married in 1948.
“I want to talk about a different kind of milestone,” Todd said on the program. “This one has to do with a friend of the show. This is Pat and Don Collins. Don is 92; Pat is 90. You may never have heard of them, but you’ve certainly heard of their daughter: Maine Senator Susan Collins. She’s one of their six kids. Well guess what? This week, Pat and Don are celebrating their 70th anniversary. Seventy years of being married.
“They were married in 1948, before Alaska and Hawaii became states. How about that kind of commitment? We think it’s something worth celebrating. And the pair has a lifetime of public service behind them. Mr. Collins is a World War II veteran who was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge, and both Mr. and Mrs. Collins have served as mayors of the same city: Caribou, Maine. I can’t think of any other couple who can lay claim to that,” Todd said.
“So to Pat and Don Collins, congratulations on 70 years,” he concluded. “We here at ‘Meet the Press’ know what it takes to get there. After all, we just turned 70 last year.”
