March 30, 1928 – October 4, 2008

Leslie Raymond Watkins, 80, of College Station passed away on Saturday, October 4, 2008, at College Station Medical Center due to a serious fall, which developed into massive brain hemorrhages. Visitation will be from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, October 7, at Hillier Funeral Home. A burial ceremony will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday, October 8, at College Station Cemetery. Memorial services will take place at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home following the burial ceremony.

Leslie was born on March 30, 1928, in Jackson, Miss., to John Otho and Leona Howard Watkins. Both parents were teachers. The family returned to Texas shortly after he was born and later settled in Houston (Heights). He graduated from Reagan High School in 1944 and from Texas A&M University in 1948 with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering.

He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War from 1953 to 1955 with the Scientific and Professional Personnel Detachment at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, and attained the rank of sergeant major.

He was employed by Anderson-Clayton for more than 37 years as a technical director of oil mills, focusing mainly on vegetable oil processing. He worked in Mexico for more than 15 years, in Matamoros, Monterrey, Guaymas, Los Mochis, San Blas, Delicias, Torreon and Mexico City. He returned to the U.S. in 1966 as technical director of oil mills in all plants owned by Anderson-Clayton in Brazil, Peru, Mexico and the U.S. (from California to Mississippi), working at the corporate headquarters in Houston until 1986.

From 1986 to 1998, he was employed by Texas A&M University in the Food Protein Research and Development Center as the director of oil mill industry services, performing research and establishing training programs for vegetable oil processing. He was voted Distinguished Colleague in 1983 by the Texas Engineering Experiment Station.

Consulting and personal travel took Les to China, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Botswana, Greece, Turkey, Belgium, the Netherlands, Hungary, France, Spain, Ukraine, Switzerland, Italy, Philippines, Syria, Israel, Jordan, Lithuania, England, Scotland, Egypt, Peru and Brazil. He had many interests, including archaeology, science and Bible study, and a continuing curiosity about how things work.

He was a Mason and Shriner in Mexico. Locally, he was a member of the Bryan Rotary Club and First Presbyterian Church in Bryan, where he served as an elder.

Les was preceded in death by his son, Leslie R. Watkins Jr., who died in 1994 at the age of 36; and a brother, John Watkins.

Survivors include his wife of more than 53 years, Marjorie Helms Watkins of College Station; daughter and son-in-law, Elisa and Jeffrey Plauché of Haiku, Maui, Hawaii; stepson and stepdaughter-in-law, Wade and Becky Walker of Del Mar, Calif.; sister, Myrtle Swearingen of Canyon Lake, Texas; grandson, Miles Plauché; sister-in-law, Shirley Helms of Waimea, Hawaii; and many nieces and nephews.

Memorials may be made to a charity of your choice.

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