Vaughn William Collicott

Vaughn William Collicott, aged 101, passed away on August 29, 2025, at his home in Kimberly, WI.

Vaughn was born October 18, 1923, in Lincoln, NE, son of the late John and Martha Collicott. Vaughn was the youngest of six children, or as he called it, The Last One, which was also the title of his 2019 autobiography.

Shortly after he was born, his family left Nebraska, making their way to Walworth County in Wisconsin and eventually settling in Janesville. Vaughn spent much of that first year of his life in a covered wagon.

Growing up at the height of the Great Depression was hard, and Vaughn worked from an early age to help support his family. He joined the Boy Scouts at 7, and was proud of the penmanship award he won in elementary school. While attending Janesville Senior High School, Vaughn worked as a lifeguard at Lion’s Beach and was active in sports, setting a school record in the 200 yard low hurdles that would stand for 26 years.

On November 14, 1942, Vaughn enlisted in the United States Navy and went through basic training at the Great Lakes Naval Station in Waukegan, IL. All three of Vaughn’s brothers also served in the Armed Forces during World War II.

Vaughn was assigned to the ship USS Henry Gibbons, serving the Army as a troop transport and crossing the Atlantic Ocean twice. He next served on the cargo freighter nicknamed Liberty ship, Henry S. Foote, in convoy duty crossing the Atlantic 14 times, delivering tanks and airplanes to the United Kingdom.

Vaughn then served on the brand new destroyer USS Meredith DD726, making the Atlantic crossing on Meredith's maiden voyage. The Meredith was disabled by an aircraft bomb at 1:45AM on the morning of June 8, 1944, while patrolling the English Channel in support of the D-Day invasion of Normandy, France. After being evacuated to safety, Vaughn was one of 11 volunteers to return to the mortally wounded Meredith to retrieve the bodies of his fallen comrades.

In July, 1944, Vaughn returned stateside, sailing on the Queen Elizabeth bound for New York City. Vaughn was reassigned to the U.S. Navy’s West Coast operations, and sailed for the Pacific Theater of Operations on the USS Lanier APA125, an auxiliary personnel attack ship. Vaughn crossed the Pacific Ocean ten times on the Lanier, making ports in Okinawa, Guam, the port of Tokyo, and Nagasaki just 8 days after the atomic bombing of that city.

On November 14, 1945, Vaughn was Honorably Discharged from the US Navy, and returned to Janesville.

Vaughn worked at Parker Pen factory, as an industrial painter on farms, bridges, churches, water towers and later as a painting contractor in partnership with his brother Marlin.

On February 22, 1947, Vaughn married Doris Nitz of Janesville, which he described in his autobiography as, “The best day of my life!”. They honeymooned at the Schroeder Hotel in Milwaukee, WI. Daughter Diana was born on May 4, 1948, followed closely by son Terry on May 27, 1949.

Vaughn then went to work at the General Motors plant in Janesville, and would remain there for 30 years, retiring in 1983. During that time Vaughn and Doris managed the Lannon Stone Motel on Racine St. in Janesville.

While returning from a vacation in Eagle River in 1968, Vaughn and Doris saw a land for sale sign in Menominee County. Vaughn and Doris would be among the first buyers at what became known as the Legend Lake Development Community. They worked weekends clearing their lot and camping on the site until building their dream retirement home in 1974.

After retiring from GM on June 1, 1983, Vaughn and Doris moved to Legend Lake full-time and would remain residents there for more than 40 years. The Collicotts threw themselves into their new community and became active members in the Legend Lake Property Owner’s Association, serving on the Social Committee arranging dinner party outings and bingo nights at the lodge.

With the opening of Menominee Bingo & Casino in 1987, Vaughn and Doris found another passion to share, becoming regular visitors and occasional big winners, including a $5,700 jackpot in 1991, a Ford Festiva in 1993, a Chevrolet S10 Pick-Up in 1995, and a $7,280 bingo jackpot in 2010!

In 2004, Vaughn took up a cause near and dear to his heart: the true story of the sinking of the USS Meredith 726. Official U.S. Navy records indicate the ship was struck by a mine in the English Channel on June 8, 1944. Vaughn recalled vividly, though, the cries of his shipmates, “Here comes a plane!”, shortly before the explosion that would claim the lives of 35 of his shipmates and result in the sinking of the now-mortally wounded ship just a day later. Vaughn wrote to his US Congressman in an effort to set the record straight. The Congressman wrote back saying the U.S. Navy maintained its position that the ship had hit a mine, but noted that, “There is some evidence that a ‘glide bomb’ had hit her (Meredith) near the waterline”. As a result of his advocacy, Vaughn’s testimony has been made part of the Meredith file at the National Archives in Washington D.C., and, “will be taken into account when the Meredith history is updated at some point in the future”, per the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations of the US Navy. Vaughn later appeared on an episode of The History Channel’s Deep Sea Detectives, sharing his recollections of that fateful night in June, 1944.

Vaughn and Doris, along with sister-in-law Judie Frederick, greatly enjoyed attending annual reunions of the surviving crew of the Meredith, traveling to San Diego, Seattle, Washington D.C., and Portland, Maine, to share memories with his old shipmates.

Vaughn lost the love of his life and wife of 70 years Doris on August 15, 2017, following a brief illness. Doris’s sister Judie, dearest friend to both Vaughn and Doris, was close to the couple throughout their life together, and remained so after Doris’s passing.

Vaughn was a 3-time cancer survivor, beating skin cancer, bladder cancer, and prostate cancer. Vaughn teamed up with his care team from Green Bay Oncology, appearing on the Cancer Covered podcast to spread the word about the importance of early detection and regular check-ups.

In June, 2024, Vaughn was among 68 World War II veterans to participate in the 80th Anniversary of the D-Day invasion, and was accompanied by his granddaughter Gidget for the ceremonies in Normandy, France. Vaughn and Gidget met such political and entertainment luminaries as President Joe and First Lady Jill Biden, Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, a four-star admiral, and filmmaker Steven Spielberg.

In December, 2024, Vaughn moved from his Legend Lake home to Kimberly, WI, to be closer to his family. Vaughn died peacefully with granddaughter Gidget in attendance in his home on August 29, 2025, just two months shy of his 102nd birthday.

Vaughn was preceded in death by his parents John and Martha Collicott, sisters Edith Anderson and Doris Bergsma, brothers Melvin Collicott, Marlin Collicott, and Donald Collicott, and his cherished son Terry Collicott after a courageous battle with cancer.

He is survived by daughter Diana (Wayne) Scoville of Edgerton, WI, granddaughter Gidget (John) Peerenboom of Combined Locks, WI, grandson Dan (Sherry) Collicott of Adell, WI, and grandson Brian (Jennifer) Collicott of Chippewa Falls, WI, great grandchildren, Steven (Sarah) Scott, Emma and Lily Peerenboom, Lexi (PJ) Root, Justin (Brianna) Collicott, Isabelle and Elynn Collicott, 6 great, great grandchildren, many nieces and nephews and by his beloved sister-in-law Judie Frederick.

 A Memorial Service with military honors, will take place on November 14, 2025, at 6:00pm at Verkuilen VanDeurzen Family Funeral Home, 2401 Fieldcrest Dr., Kaukauna, WI. A time of visitation will be held on Friday from 4:00 p.m. until the time of the service at the funeral home.  A Graveside Committal Service will be held on November 17, 2025, 11:00am at Oak Hill Cemetery, Janesville WI.