Stephen Joseph Watson I

Stephen served in the U.S. Navy as a radar man in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969 and on the USS Newman K. Perry from 1969 to 1971. During his time on the N.K. Perry, he cruised the North Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Black Sea, while visiting many port cities along the way. After an honorable discharge from the Navy, he was an air traffic controller in Norwood, Beverly, and Portland, ME. He also served as regional president of the local PATCO union chapter in Portland, ME.

After a contentious strike in 1981, he was forced to leave his role as an air traffic controller. Ever resilient, he later became a real estate appraiser in 1983, and co-founded Northeast Appraisal in Windham, ME in 1988. Later he was a corrections officer at the Maine Youth Center. In 1998 he happily returned as an air traffic controller in Beverly where he retired in 2016.

Stephen was an extremely warm man and approached everything he did with his signature sense of humor; he made friendships wherever he went and always had time to talk. He was passionate about his family and friends, and remembered every birthday. Stephen made it a top priority to see his grandchildren on each of their birthdays. A devout man, Stephen also served as a Eucharistic minister at his local parishes.

Baseball was another of his major passions, especially anything related to the Boston Red Sox. He was a scout leader and a coach on his children’s sports teams. He was delighted to go to Cooperstown to see his grandson play at a baseball tournament in 2019. Stephen was an avid fisherman, and enjoyed fishing with friends and family in Maine. He also loved everything related to aviation and cars; his dream car was his very own Chevrolet Monte Carlo.

Stephen is survived by loving family, including his daughter Jennifer and her husband Mike; his son Stephen and his wife Lauren; his brothers and sisters Albert, Marjorie, Tom, James, and Helen; his grandchildren Ashlyn, Ryan, Samuel, and Madeline; and many adoring nephews and nieces.

Visitation will be held on Saturday, October 16, 2021 from 9am to 10:30am at Gillooly Funeral Home, 126 Walpole Street, Norwood. Following the visitation, a Memorial Mass will be held at St. Catherine of Siena Parish, 547 Washington Street, Norwood at 11am. Stephen will have a burial at sea on an U.S. Navy commissioned ship at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Stephen’s memory to the Multiple Myeloma Foundation, P.O. Box 414238 Boston, MA 02241-4238