Debra Lynn Watkins

Debra Lynn (Hagens-Horne-Bounous) Watkins was born on October 6th 1951 in Harlingen (TX) to parents Audrey Faye (Ohlendorf) Hagens and William Hagens. Her parents divorced early on, and her mother re-married to Sam Allen Horne, who legally adopted her, changing her name to Debra Lynn Horne at the age of two. Not long after, her siblings Danny and Beth Ann were born, and the three quickly became fond of fishing together along their Daddy, at Port Mansfield throughout the 1960's.

In 1972, she met and married Lyman R. Bounous, and they had a child, Bryan Allen Bounous, in 1974. Due to mutual differences, they divorced soon afterward. But in 1978, Debra found her true life love, Randall C. Watkins. They met at a Country & Western club...he asked her to dance...she said "I guess you're tall enough." And that's it....they married not long after, on Oct. 3rd 1981.

Having enjoyed a semester on the Yearbook staff at Edinburg High School, Debra realized she had a talent for fast typing, and pursued a career in administrative assistance. She found success at an insurance agency in downtown Houston, which then led to her ultimate job as a receivables accountant at Planned Community Management, Inc., with her friends Linda and Diana. As the company grew, she made many new lifelong friends....Carrie, Alice, Yvonne, Charlene, Annette, Ry, just to name a few.

Debra loved Westerns. Television and movies were great, but she LOVED to read about cowboys and the old west. She had a ton of paperbacks, but when the Amazon Kindle came out....WHOOO!!! She went to town and downloaded probably everything written by Larry McMurtry (the author who wrote Lonesome Dove).

Debra hated to be told that she'd never complete anything, especially by her Daddy, Sam. So to spite him, she started making Christmas ornaments--from kits, mind you--but she made probably around fifty individual Christmas ornaments over the course of perhaps twenty years. Glitter, sequins, pins, styrofoam, paint and glue. She made them all by hand, and they're still as pretty today as the day she made each one of them.

Crocheting was another big part of Debra's life. She enjoyed creating all kinds of blankets and throws for her friends and their children. And of course fishing. From any early age, her Daddy taught her how to fish, and even after she retired, she enjoyed going on fishing trips with her son Bryan. The thrill of the bite, the pull of the rod, then reeling in a BIG one....she loved that.

Debra is survived by her loving spouse Randall C. Watkins, son Bryan Allen Bounous, brother Daniel Horne and sister Beth Ann (Horne) Jones. She was preceeded in death by her parents, Sam Allen Horne (1996), Audrey Faye (Ohlendorf) Horne (2007), and biological father William Hagens (1996).