Teresa Pou Watkins, 55, of King George, VA, passed away Sunday, June 17th, 2018 after a tremendous battle against cholangiocarcinoma. She was the type of person who would not go down without a fight, and she fought to make the best of the time that she had with friends and family.
Ms. Watkins was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, on 27 September 1962. She attended Bogalusa High School, Bogalusa, Louisiana, graduating with honors in June 1980. Ms. Watkins attended Mississippi State University (MSU), where she double majored in physics and mathematics and graduated with honors. While at MSU, she interned with the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. She was married to Steven M. Watkins (the love of her life who has preceded her in death) in 1982, moving to Dahlgren, Virginia in 1988 and having her greatly cherished daughter Julie in 1996.
Tracy was a physicist assigned to SMC/SYGA as the Distributed Space Command and Control – Dahlgren (DSC2-D) Chief Engineer, Naval Support Facility, Dahlgren, Virginia. Tracy served the nation as a U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force DoD Civilian with the Naval Space Surveillance Center (later the DSC2-D when the system was transferred to the U.S Air Force.} Tracy earned many awards and commendations including Navy and Air Force Civilian of the Quarter and Year (on multiple occasions), Senior Civilian Engineer, recognition from NASA, and recognition by the Secretary of the Navy. The team with which she worked and gained such honors became a second family each of whom was very important to Tracy.
She and Steve raced J24 Class sail boats, racing as far away as the CORK regatta in Kingston, Ontario.
Her husband, Steven Watkins, introduced her to photography, which became a passion that she had for the rest of her life. There was a vast array of subjects that she used, ranging from landscapes, experimental shots, team photos, family photos, and shots of animals. One of the main focuses of her photography was the natural world. She had a fascination for flowers, animals varying from hawks and eagles, to deer and other woodland creatures. She loved all of the pets that she had, which include a Leonberger named Appa, two cats named TinTin and Trap, two German Shepard named Manny and Blitz, and cat named Cricket.
Tracy loved music and could play the piano and the flute. She was a member of the Dahlgren United Methodist Church choir and several community choral societies. Additionally, she participated in the Master Works choir, and has performed in several Christmas shows.
She was a very involved parent and patron supporter of the Virginia Ice Theatre of Fairfax, with which her daughter Julie skates. After the ice rink in Fredericksburg closed, Ms. Watkins kept the passion for skating alive for Julie by driving to Fairfax so that she could skate with her coach Olga Garrity. For the theatre on ice teams, she would help the parents and the coaches set up the props which were taken on the ice. She developed very close friendships with the parents of the skaters, as well as other coaches like Olga Ulmann and Olga Garrity. At skating events, she was sought out for her skills in photography.
Teresa is survived by her father Francis Erskine Pou, her daughter Julie, her brothers Troy Pou and Tony Pou.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, June 23, 2018 at Dahlgren United Methodist Church, 17142 State Route 668, King George, VA 22485, at 2PM.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in her name to the American Cancer Society.
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