Are You A Rockwell Collins / Collins Aerospace Retiree?

The Collins Retirees Association is a 501(c)(4) non-profit social organization. Its purpose is to provide a place where members and their families can enjoy companionship, recreation, crafts, education, and community-welfare activities.

CRA is made up primarily of retirees of Collins Radio Co., Rockwell Collins, or Collins Aerospace in the Dallas, TX area. Membership is also open to retirees and family members from related organizations once part of Rockwell International or its spin-offs.

If you qualify, you may register to become a member and receive newsletters, emails, and meeting notices here:

RCRA Registration

Note: Your privacy is important to the organization. Your personal information will not be released outside the organization. Only CRA officers will have access to the membership roster to facilitate email distribution of Association notifications and meeting announcements.

There are no membership fees — only goodwill donations.

INFORMATION NEED

One of CRA’s primary goals is to collect and preserve historical descriptions and photographs of significant Rockwell Collins/Collins Aerospace programs and teams that our membership supported during their careers at the Collins Division in the Dallas/Richardson area.

We invite you to review your files and share materials with the CRA for posting on the Collins History tab of the “About Us” webpage. Submissions may be sent to:

(RockwellCollinsRetirees@rcretirees.com). 

Presidents Ponderings by Neil Dobson

Message From Our President…

It is critical that we identify and elect some new members to the leadership team. The roles are important to the continuation of the retirees organization! However, none of them require a lot of time primarily supporting our Spring and Fall meetings. 

These are exciting times! We will welcome a new wave of recent retirees as well as current employees to share in our Social Events and share interesting programs like “Inventors of the Internet”. We will continue to share & reflect on the lives and careers of some very talented employees who contributed to the success of Collins Radio, Rockwell Collins and now Collins Aerospace [One of three Business Unit within RTX].

Goals for the Future of RCRetirees Association (RCRA) include:

  • Improve Engagement & Communications by re-instating Quarterly Newsletters.
  • Increase RCRetirees Membership Rolls – Outreach Effort to Recent Collins Retirees.
  • Increase attendance at Semi-annual Meetings – Reach out to all retirees.
  • Expand Collins History Webpage Tab to add major programs (i.e. Dr. Weigl Art Collins story).

In terms of future meetings, we have a long-term commitment with St. Paul’s the Apostle Parish Center in Richardson for our semi-annual meetings.  

Neil Dobson

We are seeking nominations and/or volunteers to lead the RCRA from Oct 2026 to April 2028

The two-year term for our current officers will be completed after the April 2025 meeting. The elected officer positions include President, Vice President, and Treasurer. Additionally, we are seeking a volunteer to oversee our bulk emails and webpage maintenance 

We are now asking for volunteers to step into one of the Acting positions or to support other volunteer roles within the Association. Additional support positions are also available. As always, you may self nominate for any of the roles if you would like to serve.

If you are interested in volunteering, please contact any of the current officers with your questions or to express interest. Officer contact details are available under the Contacts section of the website.

Current Slate of Volunteer Officers

Neil Dobson – President | Newsletter Publisher

Bill Zeigler – Acting Vice President | Webpage Updates & Member Data Stats

Ted Fredericks – Treasurer

Eric Pearson – Acting Public Relations | Meeting Notices & Obituaries & Website (Eric Stepping Down)

Jim Brown – Photographer | Publishes Meeting Addendum with Attendee Photos

Carlo Rossi – Collins Aerospace Liaison (BD)

    Member Contributions

    Member contributions received at the meetings continue to play a major role in offsetting the expenses of this organization. When the baskets are passed please be generous. Another way to help RCRA is to purchase an ad on this site. Any RCRA officer can help you with the details.

    New Retirees & Obituaries

    Rockwell Collins does not release retiree names or contact information. We rely on CRA members to inform us.

    Please report new retirees: Send the retiree’s name and contact information to CRA officers:

    Please report obituaries: Notify any officer and send a copy to: rcretirees@gmail.com so we can distribute the notice to members.

    Website Information

    In 2015, Jerry Henninger, a past president of RCRA, engaged his business partner Lance Ochs to develop, maintain, and host the RCRA website, http://www.rcretirees.com. Today, Lance continues to host the website but we’ve transitioned development to Bill Zeigler and on-going maintenance to Eric Pearson. We thank Jerry and Lance for the initial development and for hosting our web site. We also thank Bill & Eric for taking the initiative to reorganize and update the website.

    RCRA Special Event Meeting is Coming!

    Thursday, Oct 15, 2026
    9:00 – 11:00 AM

    Meeting will be held at:

    St Paul Catholic Church Parish Center
    900 St. Paul Dr
    Richardson, TX 75080
    (Just West of 75 (Central), North off Spring Valley)

    Memories of Past Programs & TACAMO Update

    Speakers: Neil Dobson & Carlos Rossi

    For Planning Purposes:

    For planning purposes, our regular meetings are scheduled on the third Thursday of April and October each year.  You can mark you calendar now to reserve the dates.
    Next Meeting: April 15, 2027 

    Collins Retirees Association Requests Donations in Lieu of Requiring Dues

    The Collins Retirees Association (CRA) has a few sponsors but must have donations from members in order to pay for meeting facilities and other costs associated with the CRA’s operation. When we can return to face-to-face meetings, we will be forced into commercial venues at a higher cost as the Civic Center is entering renovation. You may donate at the link below using a PayPal account or your credit card.