Willard Lee Watson was born on March 16, 1917, in Baldwin, MS, to Thomas Andrew and Ida Lou Bartlett Watson. Willard was the third-born of nine children and became the family's head at the age of 19, when his dad drowned in the Dyer County flood of 1937.
His younger siblings credit their upbringing to his strong character and firm commitment to right living. Early in his life he felt the Lord calling him and was involved in youth work when he met his future wife, Emma Lou Hulme, at a meeting at Lenox Methodist church. They married in April of 1942 at Center Methodist Church, in the Edgewood Community, near Newbern, TN. He continued to farm and to work part-time as a self-employed carpenter. He built their first home, near Sorrels Chapel.
Willard served overseas with the National Guard during WWII, achieving the rank of sergeant. He drove a supply truck called "Lil Emily" (named after his dear wife). After the war, he continued to farm until he answered the call to preach in September of 1950. He had first to earn his GED. He studied at Asbury College in Wilmore, KY, and then at Bethel Seminary. He finished his education after beginning to serve the Trenton (TN) Circuit, with five churches. By then he and Emma Lou had three children-two daughters and a son. They moved to Puryear, TN, after being in Trenton for three years, serving the Puryear-Buchanan Charge. Another daughter was born while they lived in Puryear, and the next move was to Troy-Rives. They next moved to Grand Junction and served the Grand Junction and Saulsbury churches. The next move e was to Humboldt, to serve the Grace and New Shiloh churches there, and then over to Bells.
Parsons Methodist was Willard's next move, where he lost part of his right forefinger to a woodworking accident. His last two pastoral moves were to Union City to serve Pleasant Valley and then to Mayfield, KY, to pastor the Calvary and Trinity churches. Willard retired in 1982 and moved into his "ranch" in Dyer County which he had bought several years earlier. Emma Lou's mother came to live with them and he took an active part in caring for her until her death in 1983. After retirement, there was always a garden, much larger than necessary, to supply vegetables to family and anyone who wanted them. He also continued to pastor churches in retirement, including Burgie's Chapel and Richwoods, near Finley, TN, and then the Finley UM Church, where he preached his last sermon in March of 2003. He felt called into another kind of ministry, since his Emma Lou has begun to show signs of Alzheimer's disease. Their youngest daughter Martha moved in with them to help.
Emma Lou went home to be with the Lord in December of2004.
With time to fill, Willard continued gardening, piano playing, and assisting his pastor until he became mostly home-bound in the summer of2007. He answered his last call on November 19, 2007, quietly in his sleep. He was buried in Dyer County Memorial Gardens after the service at Dyersburg Funeral Home, with Brother Ralph Gunter officiating. He is survived by his four children: Willa Nelson, Rachel Parker, Thomas Watson, and Martha Davison; seven grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; and a brother, Ray Watson.
-Rachel Watson Parker
As Printed in the Memphis Conference Journal of the United Methodist Church 2008
Pastor of Troy United Methodist Church in Troy, Tennessee, from 1956-1959.
FromContributor: Jake (Fag#49335182)
His younger siblings credit their upbringing to his strong character and firm commitment to right living. Early in his life he felt the Lord calling him and was involved in youth work when he met his future wife, Emma Lou Hulme, at a meeting at Lenox Methodist church. They married in April of 1942 at Center Methodist Church, in the Edgewood Community, near Newbern, TN. He continued to farm and to work part-time as a self-employed carpenter. He built their first home, near Sorrels Chapel.
Willard served overseas with the National Guard during WWII, achieving the rank of sergeant. He drove a supply truck called "Lil Emily" (named after his dear wife). After the war, he continued to farm until he answered the call to preach in September of 1950. He had first to earn his GED. He studied at Asbury College in Wilmore, KY, and then at Bethel Seminary. He finished his education after beginning to serve the Trenton (TN) Circuit, with five churches. By then he and Emma Lou had three children-two daughters and a son. They moved to Puryear, TN, after being in Trenton for three years, serving the Puryear-Buchanan Charge. Another daughter was born while they lived in Puryear, and the next move was to Troy-Rives. They next moved to Grand Junction and served the Grand Junction and Saulsbury churches. The next move e was to Humboldt, to serve the Grace and New Shiloh churches there, and then over to Bells.
Parsons Methodist was Willard's next move, where he lost part of his right forefinger to a woodworking accident. His last two pastoral moves were to Union City to serve Pleasant Valley and then to Mayfield, KY, to pastor the Calvary and Trinity churches. Willard retired in 1982 and moved into his "ranch" in Dyer County which he had bought several years earlier. Emma Lou's mother came to live with them and he took an active part in caring for her until her death in 1983. After retirement, there was always a garden, much larger than necessary, to supply vegetables to family and anyone who wanted them. He also continued to pastor churches in retirement, including Burgie's Chapel and Richwoods, near Finley, TN, and then the Finley UM Church, where he preached his last sermon in March of 2003. He felt called into another kind of ministry, since his Emma Lou has begun to show signs of Alzheimer's disease. Their youngest daughter Martha moved in with them to help.
Emma Lou went home to be with the Lord in December of2004.
With time to fill, Willard continued gardening, piano playing, and assisting his pastor until he became mostly home-bound in the summer of2007. He answered his last call on November 19, 2007, quietly in his sleep. He was buried in Dyer County Memorial Gardens after the service at Dyersburg Funeral Home, with Brother Ralph Gunter officiating. He is survived by his four children: Willa Nelson, Rachel Parker, Thomas Watson, and Martha Davison; seven grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; and a brother, Ray Watson.
-Rachel Watson Parker
As Printed in the Memphis Conference Journal of the United Methodist Church 2008
Pastor of Troy United Methodist Church in Troy, Tennessee, from 1956-1959.
FromContributor: Jake (Fag#49335182)
Willard Lee Watson was born on March 16, 1917, in Baldwin, MS, to Thomas Andrew and Ida Lou Bartlett Watson. Willard was the third-born of nine children and became the family's head at the age of 19, when his dad drowned in the Dyer County flood of 1937.
His younger siblings credit their upbringing to his strong character and firm commitment to right living. Early in his life he felt the Lord calling him and was involved in youth work when he met his future wife, Emma Lou Hulme, at a meeting at Lenox Methodist church. They married in April of 1942 at Center Methodist Church, in the Edgewood Community, near Newbern, TN. He continued to farm and to work part-time as a self-employed carpenter. He built their first home, near Sorrels Chapel.
Willard served overseas with the National Guard during WWII, achieving the rank of sergeant. He drove a supply truck called "Lil Emily" (named after his dear wife). After the war, he continued to farm until he answered the call to preach in September of 1950. He had first to earn his GED. He studied at Asbury College in Wilmore, KY, and then at Bethel Seminary. He finished his education after beginning to serve the Trenton (TN) Circuit, with five churches. By then he and Emma Lou had three children-two daughters and a son. They moved to Puryear, TN, after being in Trenton for three years, serving the Puryear-Buchanan Charge. Another daughter was born while they lived in Puryear, and the next move was to Troy-Rives. They next moved to Grand Junction and served the Grand Junction and Saulsbury churches. The next move e was to Humboldt, to serve the Grace and New Shiloh churches there, and then over to Bells.
Parsons Methodist was Willard's next move, where he lost part of his right forefinger to a woodworking accident. His last two pastoral moves were to Union City to serve Pleasant Valley and then to Mayfield, KY, to pastor the Calvary and Trinity churches. Willard retired in 1982 and moved into his "ranch" in Dyer County which he had bought several years earlier. Emma Lou's mother came to live with them and he took an active part in caring for her until her death in 1983. After retirement, there was always a garden, much larger than necessary, to supply vegetables to family and anyone who wanted them. He also continued to pastor churches in retirement, including Burgie's Chapel and Richwoods, near Finley, TN, and then the Finley UM Church, where he preached his last sermon in March of 2003. He felt called into another kind of ministry, since his Emma Lou has begun to show signs of Alzheimer's disease. Their youngest daughter Martha moved in with them to help.
Emma Lou went home to be with the Lord in December of2004.
With time to fill, Willard continued gardening, piano playing, and assisting his pastor until he became mostly home-bound in the summer of2007. He answered his last call on November 19, 2007, quietly in his sleep. He was buried in Dyer County Memorial Gardens after the service at Dyersburg Funeral Home, with Brother Ralph Gunter officiating. He is survived by his four children: Willa Nelson, Rachel Parker, Thomas Watson, and Martha Davison; seven grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; and a brother, Ray Watson.
-Rachel Watson Parker
As Printed in the Memphis Conference Journal of the United Methodist Church 2008
Pastor of Troy United Methodist Church in Troy, Tennessee, from 1956-1959.
FromContributor: Jake (Fag#49335182)
His younger siblings credit their upbringing to his strong character and firm commitment to right living. Early in his life he felt the Lord calling him and was involved in youth work when he met his future wife, Emma Lou Hulme, at a meeting at Lenox Methodist church. They married in April of 1942 at Center Methodist Church, in the Edgewood Community, near Newbern, TN. He continued to farm and to work part-time as a self-employed carpenter. He built their first home, near Sorrels Chapel.
Willard served overseas with the National Guard during WWII, achieving the rank of sergeant. He drove a supply truck called "Lil Emily" (named after his dear wife). After the war, he continued to farm until he answered the call to preach in September of 1950. He had first to earn his GED. He studied at Asbury College in Wilmore, KY, and then at Bethel Seminary. He finished his education after beginning to serve the Trenton (TN) Circuit, with five churches. By then he and Emma Lou had three children-two daughters and a son. They moved to Puryear, TN, after being in Trenton for three years, serving the Puryear-Buchanan Charge. Another daughter was born while they lived in Puryear, and the next move was to Troy-Rives. They next moved to Grand Junction and served the Grand Junction and Saulsbury churches. The next move e was to Humboldt, to serve the Grace and New Shiloh churches there, and then over to Bells.
Parsons Methodist was Willard's next move, where he lost part of his right forefinger to a woodworking accident. His last two pastoral moves were to Union City to serve Pleasant Valley and then to Mayfield, KY, to pastor the Calvary and Trinity churches. Willard retired in 1982 and moved into his "ranch" in Dyer County which he had bought several years earlier. Emma Lou's mother came to live with them and he took an active part in caring for her until her death in 1983. After retirement, there was always a garden, much larger than necessary, to supply vegetables to family and anyone who wanted them. He also continued to pastor churches in retirement, including Burgie's Chapel and Richwoods, near Finley, TN, and then the Finley UM Church, where he preached his last sermon in March of 2003. He felt called into another kind of ministry, since his Emma Lou has begun to show signs of Alzheimer's disease. Their youngest daughter Martha moved in with them to help.
Emma Lou went home to be with the Lord in December of2004.
With time to fill, Willard continued gardening, piano playing, and assisting his pastor until he became mostly home-bound in the summer of2007. He answered his last call on November 19, 2007, quietly in his sleep. He was buried in Dyer County Memorial Gardens after the service at Dyersburg Funeral Home, with Brother Ralph Gunter officiating. He is survived by his four children: Willa Nelson, Rachel Parker, Thomas Watson, and Martha Davison; seven grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; and a brother, Ray Watson.
-Rachel Watson Parker
As Printed in the Memphis Conference Journal of the United Methodist Church 2008
Pastor of Troy United Methodist Church in Troy, Tennessee, from 1956-1959.
FromContributor: Jake (Fag#49335182)
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