Miriam Elaine Watson McKinley

Miriam Watson McKinley was born Miriam Elaine Watson on July 10, 1936, in Repton, Alabama, the youngest daughter of John Jackson and Carrie Nichols Watson. She grew up in a farming family in Bermuda, Alabama, going to schools where her classmates were mostly her cousins, bringing the cows home from the pasture on her bicycle, and playing the piano in the Methodist church.

After graduating from Repton High School, she attended Auburn University, where she studied medical technology. Her first job after graduation was at the Mobile Infirmary in Mobile, Alabama. From there she embarked on a great adventure to Gainesville, Florida, and a job in the lab at the newly opened UF Teaching Hospital.

In Gainesville, she attended First Methodist Church, where she met John Edward McKinley in Sunday school. They were married there on April 7, 1962. As newlyweds, they lived in Eau Gallie, Memphis, Huntsville, Alabama, and Titusville, Florida, before moving to Palatka, Florida in 1968 with their two young daughters, Ann and Amanda.

In Palatka, Miriam led the team in the laboratory at Putnam Community Hospital for many years. She was active in St. James United Methodist Church and as a volunteer in her daughters’ many activities, including Brownies and 4-H.

After they retired, John and Miriam lived in Melbourne Beach, Milton, and Fruit Cove, Florida. Miriam volunteered in the Stephen Ministry in Melbourne, was a key volunteer for Family Promise in Milton, where she and John were named Volunteers of the Year in 2009, and volunteered at Mandarin United Methodist in Jacksonville. She was a devoted caregiver during John’s final illness, staying by his side around the clock. Her name was the last word he spoke.

Her husband was the engineer in the family, but Miriam also had a gift for keeping things running--marriage, family, hospital, community. She was soft-spoken, but anyone who asked her to do something that didn’t align with her values heard a soft but firm “no.” Everywhere she lived, she made deep, lasting friendships with her quiet warmth, kind words, and personal integrity.

Miriam Watson McKinley passed away on June 5, 2019, with her daughter, Amanda, by her side. She is survived by her daughters, Amanda McKinley (John Witoshynsky), of Hollywood, Florida, and Ann McKinley, of Elkton, Florida, her grandchildren, Sam and Caroline Haarman and Clark and Carina Witoshynsky, and her brother, Theo Watson, of Semmes, Alabama. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, John Edward McKinley, her sister Dorothy Burt, and her brothers John T. Watson and Kenneth Watson.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, June 22, at 2:00 pm at St. James United Methodist Church in Palatka. Interment will be in Bermuda, Alabama, at a later date. Memorials are preferred to St. James United Methodist Church.