Obituary of Doris Patterson Watts

Doris Louise Patterson Watts was born in February, 1934, in the middle of the Great Depression in Cullman, Alabama to Lena Irene Marty Patterson Bolte and Johnnie Lee Patterson. She attended Sacred Heart Academy and graduated from Cullman High School in 1952. As a young woman, she worked in both Cullman and Birmingham. She married Tom R. Watts of Holly Pond while he was on leave from the Navy in 1952. After living all around the country, in Oklahoma, California and Alaska, they settled in Dickinson, Texas in 1964. They subsequently divorced in 1977. Doris lived at her home in Dickinson until September of 2008, at which time she moved to Bethesda, MD to escape Hurricane Ike and to be closer to her daughters. She died July 26th of pneumonia at the Rockville Nursing Home in Rockville, MD. Doris worked at (then) R. D. Mc Adams Junior High in Dickinson as a teacher's aide. She volunteered as PTA president at McAdams and was secretary for the Bay Area Chapter of Parents Without Partners, and the singles group at her church. She retired as an administrative assistant from the Moody Independent School District, affiliated with the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, in 1994 after nearly 20 years of service. Loving toward her family and friends, Doris especially enjoyed holidays, the beach, wildlife, her garden, art, and the First United Methodist Church of Dickinson. She belonged to the church for over 40 years, and was an enthusiastic member of the 55+ club. She was known as a good seamstress, needlework artist and cook, and as a caring friend. She will be dearly missed. Doris struggled valiantly to live a full life under the weighty burdens of COPD, chronic depression, and the great sorrow of the accidental death of her youngest son, Casey Watts, in 1986. Her sister, Wilma Patterson Preiss died in September, 2003. She is survived by her brother, Kenneth Lee Patterson, and her brother-in-law, Fred Preiss, both of Cullman; her children, son-in-law and grandchildren; her daughter Susan and son-in-law Johnnie Buzek, and granddaughters Olivia and Laura Buzek of Bethesda, MD; son Rodger Watts, and grandson Taylor Watts of Dickinson, TX; daughter Andrea Haddon, and grandson Adam Walton of Crofton, MD; her ex-husband, Tom Watts of Dickinson, TX. Her family would like to express their gratitude and are greatly indebted to: her many wonderful friends of her church and neighborhood who gave their support and care; her wonderful doctors; and the staff of the Rockville Nursing Home who helped to care for her during the final stage of her long illness. Graveside services will be held Saturday August 7th 2010 at 10:00 a.m. at the Mount Olivet Cemetery in Dickinson, Texas. A Celebration of her life will follow at 4:00 p.m. at the 1st United Methodist Church, Dickinson, Texas.