James Arthur Collins, noted restauranteur and philanthropist, beloved husband, dedicated father, grandfather, and great grandfather, died peacefully surrounded by his family on March 2, 2025, in his longtime Brentwood home.
Jim was born in Huntington Park, California, on December 20, 1926, to Albert Preston and Lucile Marie Riglesberger Collins.
The family moved to Arcadia when Jim was in Middle School. The area was mostly farmland, and Jim dreamed of owning a horse. When he was 11, he earned 50 cents a day helping his father build the family's home but still did not have enough money for a horse, so his father took him to the local bank for a loan. Times were tough as the Depression raged, and Jim raised and sold rabbits, mowed lawns, and delivered newspapers to pay off the loan and buy feed for his horse, Rex. It was Jim's first business lesson.
In 1944, Jim graduated from M.A.D. High School, which drew students from Monrovia Arcadia and Duarte. He immediately enlisted in the U.S. Navy, serving stateside during World War II, and attending classes at Miami University of Ohio.
After his honorable discharge in 1946, Jim had the good fortune to attend UCLA on the G.I. Bill to study civil engineering. He ran track with Coach Ducky Drake, which carried on throughout his life, as he became a lifelong runner, jogging daily on San Vicente Boulevard.
While a UCLA student, Jim joined Beta Theta Pi and lived in the fraternity house. To save money, he worked as a "hasher," a waiter/dishwasher at other fraternities and sororities. While hashing at the Kappa Kappa Gamma house, he spotted a beautiful, blonde sorority sister Carol Elizabeth Leonard. After their first date, Carol went home and told her mother that she had met the man she was going to marry. She was right. After Jim's graduation from UCLA on July 15, 1950, they were married at Westwood Hills Christian Church.
With his newly minted civil engineering degree, Jim got a job building churches. He and Carol moved to Duarte. A fortuitous offer from his father-in-law to open a coffee shop at Airport Village led to his visit to the first McDonalds in San Bernardino. Upon seeing the long lines at McDonald's, Jim decided instead to open Hamburger Handout in 1952, selling 19- cent burgers, 10-cent fries and nickel ice cream cones. Hamburger Handout was so popular that Jim opened three more locations.
Jim's very common expression that his success was attributed to "luck and being in the right place at the right time" was again proven true when he met Colonel Harland Sanders in Shelbyville, Kentucky in 1960. Jim and the Colonel became lifelong friends, with the Colonel sleeping on Jim's couch when he was visiting Los Angeles. After a handshake deal with the Colonel, Jim added the Colonel's famous fried chicken to his menus. Subsequently, Jim sold his hamburger stands and became a franchise representative for Kentucky Fried Chicken.
From 1962-68, Jim opened 240 KFC franchises throughout Southern California. After the Colonel sold his company, Jim, along with a couple of fraternity brothers, started Collins Foods International, Inc. (CFI). In 1969, CFI opened the first KFC in Australia and by the 1990s had 100 restaurants there, as well as 170 in the US. Jim's longtime friendship with Del Johnson enabled CFI to purchase the 164 restaurants in the Sizzler Steakhouse chain. At its height in addition to its KFCs, CFI had 302 franchised Sizzlers and 139 company-owned stores in 30 states and abroad.
Jim spent the first half of his life making money and the second half giving it away. His favorite saying was "It's a lot of fun to make money but even more fun to give it away."
Jim's passion for giving back started very early. His philanthropy started with his alma mater UCLA, and grew to include the Westside Family YMCA and the Boys & Girls Club of Venice. In 1980, Jim led the charge with other hospitality leaders to grow Cal Poly Pomona's hospitality program to a highly respected college. Collins College of Hospitality Management at Cal Poly Pomona is now ranked by CEO World Magazine as the number six school in hospitality and hotel management in the world.
He volunteered to lead the board in every organization to which he belonged, from the UCLA Alumni Association to the YMCA of Metro Los Angeles. He would set the example by making a lead gift, always desiring to inspire others to give. He chaired the first UCLA Campaign and remained active in all future fundraising campaigns instrumental in the campaign for the Anderson School of Management, Dad was so proud of the Collins Center for Executive Education. Another accomplishment was when the new Collins & Katz Family Y finally opened its doors in December 2018. He served as a director on many boards including AECOM and Lawry's Restaurants, Inc. Jim was a member of Young Presidents Organization and Chief Executives Organization and a 70-year member of Westwood Village Rotary Club Jim was a faithful Christian, regularly attending church and living his Christian values daily.
Many awards were bestowed on Jim, including the UCLA Medal, California State University California State University Pomona Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, Beta Theta Pi Oxford Cup, UCLA ICON Award, Horatio Alger Award and the National Restaurant Association Gold Plate Award.
Jim and Carol were avid UCLA sports fans, and, along with their family, rarely missed a football or basketball game, always decked out in their favorite blue and gold!. He loved seeing the statue outside Pauley Pavilion of Coach John Wooden, who became a dear family friend. They attended almost every Summer Olympics until 2012. Jim became a golfer and even learned how to fly a plane, delighting in flying his Cessna 172 to Palm Springs. Special talents were his harmonica skills and tap dancing, and he was happiest when having his favorite peanut butter and apricot jam sandwich.
Jim had an easy-going, friendly manner, and people were naturally drawn to him. He set a shining example for his family and was as generous with his time as he was with his treasure, mentoring students, young entrepreneurs, and colleagues when asked. His life and accomplishments will never be forgotten. His legacy will continue through The Carol and James Collins Foundation.
"You've made me, our family and our world better," Carol wrote in a card to celebrate Jim's 90th birthday. "I love you today, tomorrow and always."
In addition to his wife Carol, he is survived by his four children, Cathy Collins Hession (Ed) Kelly Leonard Collins, Michael James Collins, and Lissa Collins Gudim (Phil Sheard), seven grandchildren, Melanie Gudim Buswell (Tom), Alexander James Gudim (Rachel), Trevor Timothy Gudim (Mar), Natalie Carol Hession, Branden Kelly Collins, Nicholas Thomas Garcia and Angelina Lilya Cruz, and five great grandchildren, Charlie, Poppy, and Benedict Buswell Collins (Coco) and James Whitney (Whit) Gudim. He is also survived by many loving nieces and nephews. Jim's sister, Marie Preston, predeceased him.
We also want to thank our wonderful caregivers, Christine, Walter, Consuelo and Ange for their loving care of our father.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to one of Jim's favorite charities or one of your own. His legacy will continue to inspire and benefit future generations. The family would like to highlight the following for consideration:
The Collins College of Hospitality Management at Cal Poly Pomona:
Make checks payable to: CPP Philanthropic Foundation
Mail: The Collins College of Hospitality Management
California Polytechnic University
3801 W. Temple Avenue, Bldg. 79B
Pomona, CA, 91768
c/o James A. Collins Legacy, Chitra Perera
Online: https://thecollinscollege.info/jim-collins-legacy
Carol and James Collins Endowed Fund in Geriatric Medicine, please make check payable to the UCLA Foundation and on the memo line, please note: Collins Endowed Fund in Geriatric Medicine (90906Q). Check can be mailed to:
The UCLA Foundation PO Box 7145
Pasadena, CA 91109-7145
Collins & Katz Family YMCA
Checks can be mailed to:
1466 S Westgate Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90025
Online: www.ymcaLA.org/ckGive
Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Los Angeles
Checks can be mailed to:
Attn. RD Dept.
5029 S. Vermont Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90037
Online: www.bgcmla.org
A Celebration of life will be held at a later date.
