Obituary
It is with great sadness that the family of William Watkins announce his passing at home in Moreton’s Harbour on the 30th of October.
‘Bill’, as he was known to family and friends, is predeceased by his parents, Gordon Watkins (1891–1975) of Twillingate and Leah Jenkins (1898–1954) of Summerford; wife Claudine (Wall) Watkins (1937–2021); brothers Elmo (Rose), Fred (Lucy) and Roy (Ruby) Watkins; sisters Mae (Cyril) Jenkins, Evelyn (Thomas) Churchill and Margaret Watkins; parents-in-law Baden and Violet (Fudge) Wall; sisters-in-law Phyllis Wall and Gertrude (Gene) Degeberg; nephews Marvin Jenkins, Dennis Granger and Sgt. Clyde ‘Rocky’ Granger; and extended niece Sonya Rogers. He leaves to mourn his son Robert and Robert’s longtime partner Jacqueline Jones; several nieces, nephews and cousins; Gertrude Fudge and the Fudge stepfamily; and a dwindling circle of friends, neighbours and well-wishers.
Bill was born William Howard Watkins in 1937 and raised in Robbins Cove, Twillingate. He finished school in 1954 and spent time working in Ontario shortly thereafter. Upon returning to Newfoundland he attended Memorial University in preparation for teaching, and subsequently taught middle-school classes at Twillingate and New World Island between 1958 and 1962. Disillusioned with the direction education was taking, he worked in various facets of the fishery from the early 1960s until retiring upon announcement of the cod moratorium in 1992.
Bill met Claudine Wall of Moreton’s Harbour in 1957. They married in 1968 and reared one child, Robert. Settled in her home community, Bill and Claudine were together another 52 years before her death in the spring of 2021.
Bill battled cancer successfully in the winter of 2011–2012. He made the most of his remaining life, despite the loss of several close friends over the next decade. Increasingly feeble over the past eighteen months, his health deteriorated rapidly throughout September and October of this year. His needs unmet by our highly compromised healthcare system, he died at home surrounded by family and friends on the morning of October 30th.
One of a kind, Bill shall be forever loved and missed by those who appreciate an intelligent outdoorsman with a witty, sardonic sense of humour.
Resting at the Moreton’s Harbour United Church with public visitation on Thursday, November 3, 2022 from 7-9 p.m. Funeral service will take place from the church on Friday, November 4, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. with Victor Hamlyn officiating.
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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of William Bill Watkins December 24 1937 October 30 2022 (age 84)..
Death notice for the town of: Summerford, Province: T-N