Margaret Jane Watson

Margaret Jane Watson, 55 years old, of Pembroke, Massachusetts died on February 25, at Jordon Hospital following a brief illness. Margaret was born in Evanston, Illinois, the youngest of four children of Stuart D. and Jane Preston Watson. She grew up in Racine, Wisconsin, New Canaan, Connecticut, and West Hartford, Connecticut; and she visited family regularly in Boca Grande, Florida and Tolland, Massachusetts. Margaret attended the New Canaan Public Schools, The Kolburne School in Norwalk, CT, and the Stonegate School, in Durham, CT. She lived briefly at Respite Villa in Glen Spey, New York before finding her home and second family at New England Village. New England Village is a residential community in Pembroke, Massachusetts where adults with developmental disabilities can lead enriching lives filled with opportunities for growth and friendship. For many years, Margaret commuted from her group home to work at NEV services, a vocational work program in Hanson, Massachusetts. In recent years, she retired to join in the activities at a day program, The Living Center, on the New England Village campus. She loved art, music, laughter, friends, animals, big meals, the ocean, small children and her mother. She enjoyed traveling by car, bus, train, airplane, and boat; and wherever she landed, she found a good restaurant, conversation, and a welcoming church. Margaret was an enthusiastic aunt, a devoted daughter and the sibling that everyone universally loved a bit more. She had a unique sense of humor that could stop people in their tracks and put a permanent grin on their faces. She was happiest while enjoying a steak dinner with family on vacation, or while sipping a hot cup of coffee or two with friends at Dunkin Donuts. Margaret treasured the community, the staff and the residents at New England Village, and that feeling was reciprocated by their lifelong respect, admiration and deep affection. Margaret made every person she came in contact with a better version of themselves. In recent years, with the help and support of Village Staff, friends, and family, Margaret managed the ups and downs of aging, change and chronic illness with courage and imagination. She will be profoundly missed. She is survived by her Mother, Jane, of Sarasota, Florida; three siblings, Beth Watson Noujaim Khalil of Cairo, Egypt, Sarah Watson DeCew of Gardnerville, Nevada, and Stephen H. Watson Elizabeth of Clarksville, Maryland. Surviving family include nieces Catherine M. Noujaim, Jehane P. Noujaim, and Amy A. DeCew and nephews, Stuart M. DeCew and Clayton S. Watson. Margaret was predeceased by her father, Stuart, who died in 1996. A funeral mass will be held in her honor on Saturday, March 7, at 11 a.m. at St. Joseph the Worker, Catholic Church in Hanson, Massachusetts, to be followed at 1:30 p.m. by a program to celebrate her life and memory at the Sheingold Building at New England Village, in Pembroke, Massachusetts. Margaret's ashes will be interred in a family plot at Lakeview Cemetery in New Canaan, Connecticut at a later date. She will have a view of a lake, which she always loved. In lieu of flowers, the Watson Family requests contributions in Margaret's memory are made to New England Village, 664 School St., Pembroke, MA 02359. Margaret was positive, determined and truly lovable.