Helen Marie Watson

Helen Marie Raines Watson was born July 24, 1922, in Llano, Texas, the third child of Jim Bell Raines and Lela Viola Christian Raines. She was a child during the Great Depression, graduating from Llano High School in 1941. Her family, like most in that era, suffered financially, and was forced to move from one rental property to another every year or so. She was baptized into Christ the summer of her 16th year, beginning a long life of faith and service to others. After graduation, Helen became a telephone operator in Llano during World War II, and she was able to provide her parents and younger brother with a home of their own, with a couple of acres of land on the banks of the Llano River.

In 1943, she met a young GI named Kelsie Alexander Watson, when he stopped in Llano during an Army supply mission from Brownwood to San Antonio. They fell in love that very day, but he was due to ship out to North Africa and eventually to Italy, where he was badly injured in March of 1944. Kelsie’s mother, Caroline Bard Watson of Broken Bow, Oklahoma, wrote to Helen when the family was notified of Kelsie’s injuries, and the course of her life was forever changed. In the summer of 1945, Helen rode the train from Llano to Atlanta, Georgia, where Kelsie was rehabilitating in a VA hospital. They were married there on July 20, 1945. Kelsie was eventually transferred to the VA hospital in Temple, Texas, where their daughter Glenda was born in 1947.

Helen became a full-time homemaker and mother while Kelsie was a car salesman, first in Temple, then in Llano, where their Dean was born in 1950. In 1953, the family moved to Killeen, Texas, where Kelsie continued to sell cars and recreational vehicles. Helen was a devoted, loving wife and mother, as well as a neighbor, to all who lived around her. She was especially kind to the many foreign “war brides” of soldiers stationed in Fort Hood, doing whatever she could to help these neighbors adjust to their new surroundings.

In 1965, the family moved to Austin, Texas, where both their children later graduated from the University of Texas, Glenda to become a teacher and Dean to become a doctor.

When Kelsie died of an aortal aneurism in 1982, the direct result of wartime injuries, Helen took some refresher course in typing and computer skills, so that she could become the secretary of the Pond Springs Church of Christ in northwest Austin. For 15 years, she dedicated most of her energy to this endeavor, touching many lives with her loving, caring spirit. Even after her retirement in 1998, she still reached out to those less fortunate around her. However, by 2003, Helen was suffering from Alzheimer’s. She moved to Ballinger for a couple of years, so that Glenda could care for her, but at the time of her death, she was a resident of the Wesleyan at Scenic in Georgetown, Texas, where she was well-loved by both staff and residents.

Helen lived her faith. She was the embodiment of Christ’s love for those around her; her true citizenship has always been in heaven, where a host of redeemed souls are now eagerly greeting her.

In the New Earth of the future, you will probably find Helen tending a fabulously lush garden with her mother and dad. Everyone there will claim Helen as a beloved friend, sister, or mother.

Helen was also preceded in death in 2007 by her son, Dr. Dean Alexander Watson of Midland, Texas. She is survived by her daughter, Glenda Watson Meredith and son-in-law Norval Meredith of Ballinger, Texas; her grandchildren, Carol Watson and husband Arden Henderson of Georgetown, Texas, Valerie Watson of Georgetown, Texas, Dr. David Meredith and wife Phyllis of Gonzales, Texas, Dean Watson Jr. and wife Stephanie of New Braunfels, Texas, Lauryn Watson of Grapevine, Texas, and Natalie Meredith of Abilene, Texas. Also surviving are six great-grandchildren, Carter Calkins, Logan and Taylor Laird all of Georgetown, and Jordan, Rebekah, and Grayson Meredith of Gonzales; plus a host of nieces, nephews and their families.

Funeral services will be held at 2:00 P.M. on Sunday, December 19, 2010 in the chapel of the Cook-Walden Davis Funeral Home in Georgetown, Texas with a visitation to follow. Graveside service will be at 2:30 P.M. on Monday, December 20, 2010 at Ft. Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas.

The family requests that donations may be given to The Wesleyan at Scenic or to the Alzheimer’s Foundation.

Arrangements by Cook-Walden Davis Funeral Home, 2900 Williams Drive, Georgetown, Texas 78628 (512)863-2564.