Margy Watkins, 95, passed away peacefully on Apr. 8, 2018, in Port St. Lucie, Fla. She was born Mar. 6, 1923 to Pearl and HR Horn in Manhattan Kan., the eldest of six children.
Margy achieved “Eaglette” (Gold Award Eagle Scout)—the first and only female in the state of Kansas, as scounting was important to her family and her. She graduated Salutatorian of her Hiawatha High School class. In her young adult years, she assisted her father as mail carrier of their rural route district.
Within days of meeting Robert “Bob” Watkins, they were married on January 22, 1944, in Atchison, Kan. They had three children: Flame (Partridge), Frank, and Greg. Margy managed the Montgomery Ward store in Falls City when her children were young, and retired from Pamida in the early 1990s. She always enjoyed hosting holiday family gatherings and could make incredible oatmeal cookies (to order), pecan pumpkin pie, and German chocolate cake. She was a member of The First Christian Church, was a Girl Scout leader for many years, “worked the polls” at election time, and was an avid Nebraska Cornhuskers fan. Margy enjoyed gardening, playing cards, watching horse/dog races and baseball games, drinking an occasional cold beer, and especially traveling all over the world with Bob.
After Bob’s death in 1994, Margy relocated to Brandon, Fla., to live with her son, Frank, and enjoy the Florida sun. She cherished eating gourmet dinners out with him, soon becoming involved with the First United Methodist Church of Riverview, and eventually becoming a Tampa Bay Bucs fan. Her retirement kept her very busy auditing taxes for the IRS, training as a Mediator, volunteering for the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office where her passion was assisting with the Missing and Exploited Children’s Fingerprinting Campaign, spending satisfying activities with the Riverview Garden Club, was a judge for the annual Strawberry Festival, and was voted on many occasions “Volunteer of the Year” by the Chamber of Commerce (now named “The Margy Watkins Volunteer of the Year Award”). Margy will always be remembered by her love for cologne: “Tabu” by Dana, “Intimate” by Jean Phillippe, and “Caesars Woman” by Caesars World.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Bob, of 50 years, her daughter, Flame Partridge, and all her siblings: Homer, Jr., Jim, Darlene, Audrey and Shirley. Survivors include: sons Frank (Michele) of Port St. Lucie, Fla., and Greg (Cindy) of Springfield, Mo., and one granddaughter, Kelsey Watkins of Sarasota, Fla.
Her wishes were to be cremated. Interment: Steele Cemetery, Falls City, NE.
