Patricia Jean Watkins

Patricia Jean Cargile was born on July 23, 1930, in Fort Smith, to Luther Edward Cargile and Beatrice Lucille Cargile nee Geren, on her father’s birthday. She was the newest member of a large extended family led by maternal grandparents, A.J. and Beulah Geren nee Van Cleave, and paternal grandparents, Martha and Thomas Cargile. Pat was also the younger of two children. She and her older brother Tom, whom she worshiped, were raised surrounded by many aunts and uncles and cousins. She loved to tell the story of when she was 10 years old and brought her pet goat into the house and up the back stairs of her maternal grandparents home to visit her Aunt Marion, who was convalescing there. She developed a love for music as a child and exhibited exceptional talent as a musician. She loved playing the clarinet and the accordion.

Pat, as she was known to everyone, moved with her family to Rogers, just prior to her sophomore year in high school. With her beauty queen good looks and warm, outgoing personality, she made friends easily. She met a young man there on her very first day, who would, along with his family, become close friends with Pat and her family. His name was Sonny Rockwood, and Sonny and his family have been lifelong friends of both the Cargiles and the Watkins’ even until her passing. Being industrious and studious by nature, Pat discovered that she could graduate from high school a year early by taking courses during the summer after her sophomore and junior years. This she did and she graduated from Rogers High School in 1947 at the age of 16. From high school, she followed her brother Tom to college at Arkansas Tech in Russellville. During her freshman year, in the spring of 1948, she met the young man she would marry. His name was Paul Bryan Watkins, and they were introduced by her future sister-in-law, Betty Ruth Watkins nee Ogden, who was the young wife of Paul’s older brother, John. Betty related recently that she thought Pat would make a good match for Paul, and she was right. They began a courtship of sorts, as Pat was at that time still away at college in Russellville.

Pat completed her degree requirements at Arkansas Tech in the spring of 1949 and returned to Rogers, where she and Paul were married on June 19, 1949. She was 18 years old. Her first son, Richard Marion Watkins, (Rick) was born the next year, on May 31, 1950. In September of 1950, barely three months after the birth of their first child, Paul would be called to deploy to Korea for what would be his second tour of duty in Korea with Northwest Arkansas’s illustrious 936th Field Artillery Group. Prior to their deployment, both he and his older brother, John, were sent with their battalion to Camp Carson, Colorado, for 6 months of additional training. Pat and three month old Rick, and Betty and her two young daughters, Sherrye and Sandy, accompanied Paul and John, as did the entire family, Paul & John’s parents (Dick & Talitha Watkins), Pat’s parents (Louie and Lucy Cargile), plus Betty’s parents (Frank and Iris Ogden). They all took up residence in what was in those days called a motor court, where they all lived together for the entire 6 month period and received visits from Paul & John as often as they were able to obtain leave from their troops. When the boys (as everyone referred to them) boarded the train to leave for Korea, Pat and her infant son moved in with Paul’s parents, as did Betty and her two girls, for the duration of Paul & John’s deployment.

Paul returned from the war in the summer of 1952, and Pat’s young family welcomed a second son, John Ruston Watkins (Rus), on March 18, 1954. Pat was devoted to her young family and threw herself into her boys’ activities from little league baseball, to tennis, golf, and water skiing, which she took up at the age of 28, becoming an accomplished skier herself. She also took up wing shooting, became a proficient shooter and accompanied Paul’s family on their annual pilgrimage to North Dakota to shoot pheasants. All her life, Pat loved telling tales of Rogers, late-night card games, family outings, hunting, shooting skeet, and water skiing on Table Rock Lake.

When her boys reached school age, her attention turned to professional pursuits, specifically teaching, and she returned to school at the University of Arkansas, receiving her undergraduate degree in education in January 1964, and her masters of education degree in December 1966. She loved teaching and she chose fifth grade, because— as she often said—at that age, children are ready to grow and develop, that's the age when they become intellectually curious. She loved her students and they loved her in return. She always made certain that learning was exciting for her students.

She and Paul were blessed with a close group of longtime friends who included their families in all their social activities from weekends spent at the lake, to cookouts, to bridge parties, to summer vacation trips to visit their extended family. Pat loved to play bridge and her skill at the game was legendary. She became a master tournament player, and very seldom lost, much to the chagrin of her opponents. She played socially for over 50 years, but she also played tournament bridge for many years, and she and Paul often traveled to tournaments. In addition to her passion for bridge Pat also loved board games, especially scrabble, and was a brilliant scrabble player for decades, even until her passing, as many of her friends and family members will attest. She also loved all things to do with the University of Arkansas, and any sport being contested by her Razorbacks enjoyed her fierce support. No one ever called her beloved Hogs more enthusiastically, unabashedly, proudly, or loudly, than she did – in any setting.

In 1966 the family relocated to Lufkin, Texas where Pat continued her teaching career, and threw herself enthusiastically into the task of becoming a part of the community, making new friends and building new relationships in a new home. The family continued to enjoy quail hunting, skeet shooting and card games in Lufkin. The hunting trips had begun when Paul was a boy accompanying his father on quail hunts in the wooded uplands of Northwest Arkansas. Rick and Rus learned to hunt from their grandfather and dad, and they learned to fish from Pat’s dad, Louie, as he was called by everyone – even his grandchildren. Their dad taught them to shoot skeet with sizzling precision, too. Although no one ever saw Granddad Dick with a golf club in his hands, the sons and grandsons excelled at that sport, too. But perhaps the defining characteristic of the Watkins family was their sense of humor and their love of each other.

In the late 70’s, she bid farewell to the teaching profession she so loved and began a successful career in real estate, where her warm personality and people skills continued to serve her well. She was a leader of her investment club and delighted in her ability to consistently outperform her fellow members. She was also active in church life and was an active and devoted member of Bible Study Fellowship for over 20 years, both in Lufkin and in Houston.

Pat was immensely proud of her sons, and enjoyed the stories they both shared with her about their travels around the world in their work —from Russia to India to Europe and Africa and various points in between. In the fall of 1982, Pat, accompanied by Paul’s mother, Talitha (Granny), took a two week trip to Europe to visit to Sherrye and her family who were at the time stationed in Bamberg, Germany. Rus joined them and took Pat and Granny to Paris, the trip of a lifetime! Later in the trip, they also traveled to Berchtesgaden, Salzburg and Frankfurt.

After losing Paul to cancer, Pat retired and moved to Houston in 2005 to be nearer her sons’ families and her granddaughters, Olivia Lucille Watkins, Garland Marie Watkins, and Marion Elizabeth Watkins. Pat remained a loyal Razorback fan her entire life and was particularly thrilled about the family outing to the 2014 Texas Bowl, which was attended by her entire family, where her Arkansas Razorbacks soundly defeated the Texas Longhorns one last time, by a score of 31 to 7. Her granddaughters were always amazed by Pat’s amazing Hog calling ability! Pat continued to enjoy reading and learning as well as indulging her passion for scrabble and contract rummy—which she continued right up to her last days.

Though her final years were diminished by pain and various illnesses, she continued to maintain her warm smile, her kindness to others, and her caring for others until her passing. Pat Watkins was a warm, beautiful, accomplished and caring wife, mother and grandmother, a lovely and loving woman who enjoyed a life full of family and personal successes and growth, and who cared for nothing so much as the company of her family and their affection. She is already missed greatly by those still here, but she is being welcomed joyfully with a heavenly celebration by all those whom she loved and missed so much.

She is survived by her two sons Rick and his wife, Sherron Smith Watkins, and their daughter Marion, and by Rus Watkins and his daughters Olivia and Garland, and by many relatives and friends who will always speak admiringly of her skill at playing the game.

The family received visitors on Thursday, March 30, 2017 from 4:00-8:00 pm at Klein Funeral Home, 1400 W. Main Street, Tomball, Texas. A Visitation/Celebration of Pat’s Life took place Sunday, April 2 from 4:00-7:00pm in the Chapel of Rollins Funeral Home in Rogers. The Funeral service was held at 10:00am Monday, April 3 in the Chapel of Rollins Funeral Home with interment following in Benton County Memorial Park. Memorials are suggested to Alzheimer’s Association, 5506 Walsh Lane, Suite 212, Rogers, Arkansas 72756 or www.alz.org. Condolences may be expressed at www.kleinfh.com and www.RollinsFuneral.com