Minnette Adaire Watford

Minnette Adaire Hewitt Watford passed away on Friday, March 13th at her home in Spicewood, Texas at the age of 75, with her beloved husband and her favorite brother by her side. Minnette was born in Austin, Texas in 1950 and spent her entire life calling Austin and surrounding areas her home. She graduated from McCallum High School and was the first person in her family of origin to graduate from college. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Texas in 1978. Before beginning her career, she completed a one-year VISTA volunteer program, working to improve the lives of deeply impoverished and disadvantaged people in El Paso, Texas.

Minnette always felt close ties to her home town community, having spent her entire career working for the City of Austin. She began her career working for the Austin Parks and Recreation Department (PARD), first as a playground leader, then as an art teacher at the Dougherty Arts Center, and eventually as a PARD administrator. She proudly shared stories about creating some of the early Trail of Lights decorations that were in use for decades. She also fondly remembered her years of volunteering as a PARD Dancing Doll at Yule Fest, hilariously acting out the 12 Days of Christmas in full costume for years. Minnette and her PARD colleagues were also responsible for obtaining the donated land from Mary Moore Searight Metropolitan Park and developing the space from raw land to a unique and beautiful community park. Minnette continued her career as an Assistant to the Assistant City Manager for several years before moving to the Solid Waste Department first as a Project Manager and then as Facilities Manager. She was instrumental in ushering in Austin’s recycling program in the 1990s. After retiring from the City of Austin, Minnette spent years volunteering at the Ladies of Charity Lake Travis Thrift Shop where she spent countless hours creating beautiful works of art out of donated materials.

Minnette lived a very full life with a unique level of energy for her loved ones, her interests, and her community. She poured her energy into her creative pursuits, adventures in nature, and community building. She was a skilled artist who created beautiful water color paintings, pencil and water-color pencil drawings, and photography throughout her life. She had the ability to create beauty out of what others considered to be trash.

She also served as a Boy Scout leader for the St. Austin’s community troop, helping middle school boys learn survival camping, rappelling, waterskiing, and spelunking. She also spent many years slalom watering skiing on Lake Travis. Her love of nature led her to pursue Scuba certification and she traveled to several countries throughout Central America for diving and cultural enrichment. Minnette loved learning about Latin American cultures and was fluent in Spanish. She loved to learn, read, observe, and adventure.

Above all, Minnette was a loving mother, grandmother, sister, wife, and friend. She is preceded in death by her parents (Bob and Florence Hewitt), her sister (Montrue Werner), and her dear friend and co-parent (Fred Bautista). She is survived by her husband (David Watford), her son and daughter-in-law (Aron and Marley Bautista), her grandchildren (Aria and Pearson Bautista), and her siblings (Robert and Alice Hewitt).

A visitation will be hosted between 6:00 and 8:00 pm on Friday, March 27th at Weed-Corley-Fish in Lakeway, Texas (411 Ranch Rd 620 S, Lakeway, TX 78734). Funeral services will be held at St. Austin Catholic Church (2026 Guadalupe St, Austin, TX 78705) on Saturday, March 28th at 10:00 am, followed immediately by brief burial service at Onion Creek Memorial Park (11610 Chapel Ln, Austin, TX 78748). A reception will immediately follow at the home of the Bautista family.

Donations can be made in Minnette’s name and spirit to local non-profits focused on providing education and support to artists with various disabilities including Art Spark Texas, Imagine Art, and Sage Studio.

https://www.artsparktx.org/

https://www.imagineart.net/

https://www.sagestudioatx.com/