SERVICE:     Monday, June 3, 2024

Fairfield Baptist Church-Moselle

11:00 a.m.

INTERMENT:     Fairfield Cemetery

VISITATION:     Sunday, June 2, 2024

Jones and Son Funeral Home-Moselle

5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Services will be held at 11:00 a.m.  Monday, June 3, 2024, in the Fairfield Baptist Church of Moselle for Mrs. Margrea Doris Watkins, age 96, of Moselle. Mrs. Watkins passed from this life on May 31, 2024 in the Brookdale #2 Assisted Living.  Rev. Brad Brownlee will officiate with burial to follow in the Fairfield Cemetery. Serving as pallbearers will be Al Matthews, Jim Cape, Roger Watkins, Mike McDonald, Stanley Watkins and Joseph Watkins.

Margrea Watkins was born in Quitman, Mississippi and spent most of her life in Moselle, Mississippi. She grew up during the Great Depression and remembered being hungry and working all day picking cucumbers for a neighbor. She enjoyed high school and graduated as the salutatorian. She got a registered nurse degree from the Methodist Hospital in Hattiesburg. While in nursing school she started dating Walton Watkins who had just returned from World War II and later they eloped to get married. In those days her school didn't allow students to be married, so they had to keep their marriage a secret for several months until graduation. She and Walton bought a house with lots of land and had cows, chickens and a large garden. In 1950 Walton was recalled into active duty and went to North Korea for 9 months when Jeff was only three days old.

Granny loved fresh vegetables and was famous for her creamed corn as well as her squash casserole. Her chicken and dumplings, pecan pie and coconut cake were the best around! She enjoyed sewing as well as cooking and made almost all the girls' clothes when they were growing up. She was very active on the farm helping Daddy with the many chores involved including milking cows, chopping wood, and wringing the necks of chickens and cutting off their heads and so many other things. They were a great team.

Margrea was active at Fairfield Baptist Church and was known to load up the neighborhood kids in the back of the truck to take them to VBS and to the creek. She stayed home with the children until the youngest started school. Then she resumed her nursing career at Jones County Rest Home. She loved helping people and gave shots to many people in the community who needed them. In the last five years of Walton's life she used her nursing skills as she lovingly took care of him as an Alzheimer's patient. They were married for 65 years.

Margrea had four children, seven grandchildren, and four great grandchildren. Family was the most important thing to her. In later years she enjoyed reminiscing over photo albums, watching the news and enjoying the peacefulness of the farm that turned into a pine tree farm.  Many evenings were spent watching the sunset from the front porch of her treasured home.  Surely goodness and mercy followed her all the days of her life. And now she will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Walton Watkins; parents, Walter and Vadie McDonald; brothers, Odie McDonald and Jack McDonald and sisters, Lola Morgan, Lavera Leggett and Evie Rae McDonald.

She is survived by her son, Jeff (Jo) Watkins of Slidell, LA; daughters, Susan (Al) Matthews of Moselle, MS, Beth (Jim) Cape of Huntsville, AL, Ceil Diane Watkins of Moselle, MS; granddaughters, Tracy Watkins of Washington, DC, Christy (Pate) Burrow of Richmond, TX, Amanda Matthews of Bay St. Louis, MS, Rebecca Cape (Eric) Mann of Huntsville, AL, Sara Beth (Scott) Walters of Charlotte, NC; grandsons, Roger (Annie) Watkins of New Orleans, LA, Ben Cape of Colorado Springs, CO; great-grandsons, Ethan Walton Burrow, Richmond, TX, Walton Wayne Watkins  of New Orleans, LA and great-granddaughters, Leah Pate Burrow of Richmond, TX and Alice Ann Watkins of New Orleans, LA.

Visitation will be 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Sunday, June 2, 2024, at Jones and Son Funeral Home of Moselle.