Quincy Collins was a 4th of July baby back in 1931. Raised in Concord, NC, he graduated from Concord High School, attended The Citadel in Charleston, SC, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Commerce in 1953. Quincy immediately entered the Air Force as a 2nd Lt. and began pilot training. Twenty-one years later he had accumulated over 3,000 hours of jet time with a Command Pilot rating, and had flown all the jet fighters of the day. He earned his Jump Wings at Ft. Benning, GA, while a Flight Commander in an F-104 unit at George Air Force Base, California. He had an illustrious Air Force career, from opening the new Air Force Academy in 1955 as an Air Training Officer, to being the Aide to the Four Star Commander-in-Chief of U.S. Air Forces in Europe, to being shot down by the North Vietnamese Communists and spending 7 ½ years in prison cells in and around Hanoi.
Quincy retired as a full Colonel in 1974, and ran for Congress in the 7th District of Georgia in 1974 and again in 1976. He has since been involved in insurance, was the General Sales Manager for 4 ½ years at Arnold Palmer Cadillac, and was President of his own marketing firm in Charlotte. For 22 years he was a commercial and industrial real estate broker, and a Senior Vice President of Southern Real Estate in Charlotte. He is married to Catherine, his wife of 40 years. She has 3 daughters and Quincy has 3 sons and together they have 12 grandchildren.
Quincy is very involved in the Charlotte community through his civic and political activities. He is a Deacon and Stephen Minister at Myers Park Presbyterian Church, and has served on the Boards of the Carolinas Carrousel Parade, the Carolinas Concert Association, the Board of Charlotte's Friendship Trays, was President of "The Collector's Circle" of the Mint Museum, and former Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Charlotte Museum of History. He is the founder of the Carolinas Freedom Foundation and Chairman of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg World War II Memorial Foundation. He was a candidate for Charlotte City Council in 1995. In 1999, Quincy was President of the Citadel Alumni Association headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina. He was recently designated a "Distinguished Graduate" by his Alma Mater.
He was a 10-year member of the prestigious Multi-Million Dollar Club of the Charlotte Commercial Board of Realtors and became a member of the Ten Million Dollar Club for three years in a row. In 2003, the Board of Realtors, for only the second time in their history, awarded Quincy their coveted "Realtor Citizen of the Year Award" for his contributions to the betterment of the community and for outstanding publicservice in the Charlotte Region. He also was recognized as one of the top Commercial Real Estate Producers in the Charlotte Region, and achieved the SIOR designation awarded by the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors, an international association of professional commercial real estate brokers.
General Hugh Shelton, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, asked Quincy to serve on the Board of the "Shelton Leadership Initiative" at N.C. State University, and he was selected to join the South Carolina State Guard Foundation Board to advise the South Carolina Adjutant General on military matters. Quincy also serves on the Boards of the USO and Operation Homefront for the State of North Carolina.
The Carolinas Freedom Foundation and its founder, Col. Quincy Collins, have been awarded the 2009 World Citizen Award by the World Affairs Council of Charlotte. In addition, Pat McCrory, then Governor of North Carolina, awarded Quincy the Order of the Long Leaf Pine for his many contributions to his community and state. After he delivered the commencement address for the 2014 graduating class at the College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri, Quincy was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. He is now retired and is in demand as an event speaker.