Family First
My father, Billy Dean Watkins, was born April 1, 1930 in Henryetta, Oklahoma to Donald and Fanny Watkins. His brother, Donald Claud, was 3 years old. Shortly thereafter, Fanny followed her mother and brothers to California, leaving her infant and toddler in Oklahoma. Donald and Fanny divorced in 1932.
Donald married Alta May Jones sometime between 1938 and 1940. They went on to have two more sons, Kenneth Gerald (1945-1964) and George Edward.
Living in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, my dad went to Joplin, Missouri on July 14, 1948 to join the Air Force during the Korean conflict. He got his training at Chanute Air Force Base in Illinois. He received several medals: Army of Occupation Japan Medal; Korean Service Medal; Good Conduct Medal; United Nations Service Medal for Korea. He was honorably discharged from the Air Force on July 13, 1952 at March Air Force Base in California. (While at March, my dad met my uncle, William McLeod, who introduced him to my mother.) At the time of his discharge, my dad was a staff sergeant with the 33d Bombardment Squadron.
Billy Dean Watkins stayed in California after leaving the Air Force. He and my mother, Geraldine McLeod, were married on June 13, 1954. I was born on May 8, 1955; my sister, Becky Sue was born on February 17, 1959, and my brother, Billy Wayne was born on August 13, 1961. Our family lived in Beaumont, California until June 1966 when we moved to Bartlesville, Oklahoma. We stayed there for a year then moved to Coffeyville, Kansas.
My dad, Bill Watkins was a quiet, calm man with a sly sense of humor. He valued family and was unconditionally supportive. He was not materialistic, instead appreciating the simple things in life. We almost always had dinner together every night and used that time to catch up and share what was going on in our lives. We often took “Sunday drives” just to enjoy the scenery. An icee, Dairy Queen ice cream cone, or A&W root beer was a special treat. He encouraged our dreams. When I was in elementary school in the 1960’s, I decided I wanted to be an FBI agent or an astronaut. My dad encouraged my aspirations even though they weren’t possibilities at the time (women, other than three women in the 1920’s, were not allowed to be FBI agents until 1972, and it wasn’t until 1983 that Sally Ride became the first American woman to go to space).
My dad was always well-informed. He read the newspaper every day, cover to cover. He also believed in the importance of voting and took this right very seriously (he took me to the polls the first time that I was eligible to vote). He maintained that people should make a difference in their community (he was a deacon and later an elder in the church; at one point he was a police reservist; he and my mom were foster parents for a time).
Reading was something that he engaged in regularly. He particularly enjoyed Perry Mason novels and books by Louis L’Amour. Often on Sundays after church, we would stop at the store and each of us kids was allowed to buy a comic book. Another pleasure was movies; we never missed a John Wayne or Disney movie. (My dad once sat next to John Wayne at the bar at the Rusty Lantern in Beaumont, California and said that John Wayne was just the nicest guy. Apparently, John Wayne was a regular at the Rusty Lantern as he traveled to and from L.A. and Palm Springs. https://www.pe.com/2014/08/31/back-in-the-day-rusty-lantern-was-standout-in-older-era-of-restaurants/. My dad managed a service station in Beaumont, California and met many celebrities in the days before I-10 was built and the road between L.A. and Palm Springs went right through Beaumont.)
Thoughtfulness was one of his defining characteristics. On Valentine’s Day he would buy my mom a large heart-shaped box of chocolates and he would buy small heart-shaped boxes of chocolates for my brother, sister, and me so that we each felt special. My sister Becky said that one of her fondest memories is of Dad giving her a yellow rose each year on her birthday. She still has a special locket that he gave her.
My dad had his struggles too. As a baby, he was tragically abandoned by his mother. I wrote about this in my blog post titled Namesake on January 22, 2021. Later as an adult, he was once held up at gunpoint when he was at work. When the police asked him to describe his assailant, all he could describe was the gun. Unfortunately, my dad also had some health issues. He was diagnosed at 18 with high blood pressure and had an enlarged heart. He died way too young on November 10, 1982.
