Roxanna L. Watkins

It is with great sadness that we report the passing of Roxanna L Watkins, beloved daughter of Janet Watkins, sister of Hunter Watkins, and mother to two children, Ariel Rose Watkins and Dean McManus. Roxanna passed away in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 18, 2025. She was forty-three years old.

Roxanna was born in the mountain town of Frisco, Colorado, on July 12, 1981, to parents Robert and Janet Watkins. Roxanna spent her early years in Frisco. She and her brother Hunter attended elementary school there, where they enjoyed exploring the outdoors in the summer and skiing with their schoolmates in the winter.

Roxanna also enjoyed going to Denver to spend time with her grandmother, Melrose Peterson. She and Hunter played frequently with their cousins Alexis and Andrew Schneider at their grandmother's house, where they went swimming and enjoyed playing games in the playroom in the basement. They developed a close relationship as cousins during this time.

After her parents divorced, Roxanna and her family moved to southern California, where her grandmother, Melrose, lived part of the year. Roxanna exchanged the mountains for the desert, but made many friends in her new location. She enjoyed sports such as soccer and continued to swim and enjoy the outdoors. She was very outgoing and enjoyed being with people.

Roxanna graduated from Mt. San Jacinto High School in Cathedral City in 1999 and continued to live in Coachella Valley after school. Roxanna worked in a dental office for many years, where she was training to be an X-ray technician. She resigned from her job, however, after her daughter Ariel Rose was born in 2006, so that she could stay home and raise her daughter. Ariel was joined by a brother, Dean McManus, who was born in 2011. Roxanna enjoyed her children very much and loved doing activities with them. Both Ariel and Dean have done well in school, which pleased Roxanna greatly.

Roxanna and her family lived in Rancho Mirage and Cathedral City until 2021, when they moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, with her mother, Janet, and Janet's late husband, Angelo Grippaudo. Janet and Angelo stayed in Las Vegas only a few months before moving to Phoenix to be close to her son, Hunter Watkins. Roxanna decided to stay in Las Vegas, where she resided until her death.

Roxanna suffered from health issues the last few years of her life, and she passed away in Las Vegas on April 18, 2025. She is survived by her mother, Janet Watkins, and her brother Hunter Watkins, of Phoenix, AZ, her daughter Ariel Rose Watkins of Denver, her son Dean McManus of Eureka, California, her nephew Micah Watkins, stationed in England, her aunt Suzanne Cazier (Stanley) of Denver, her cousins Alexis Eversole (Wesley) and Andrew Schneider of Denver. Her family will hold a private Celebration of Life at Olinger Chapel Hill in Centennial, Colorado, and she will be buried in the family plot next to her grandparents, Harry and Melrose Peterson.

A memorial service for Roxanna will be held Saturday, June 21, 2025, from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM at Olinger Chapel Hill Mortuary & Cemetery, 6601 South Colorado Blvd, Centennial, CO 80121.