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Passed away peacefully in the early hours of January 24, 2023. Ron was entering his 90th year born on September 13, 1933. He was a beloved husband to his late wife of 54 yrs., Bernice Watkin and father to their only child Lia Marie Watkin (Victor Gene Telfer) of Edmonton, AB.
This Cowley school boy was born in St. Helen’s and attended the Cowley Grammar School, a high honor in England. His parents, Fred Iddon Watkin and Florence Irene Watkin (nee Makin). Ron was the eldest of 5 siblings and was predeceased by his sister Ruth & (Gerald) and brother John (June). His brother David (Wendy) & family all reside on Vancouver Island, Canada, and brother Robert (Pam) & family all reside in England.
After serving in the British Army as a paratrooper, and jumping out of planes over Egypt, he then immigrated to Canada where he began working on the railroad in Toronto, then onto farming and finally onto following in his future wife’s footsteps of obtaining his teaching degree and in December 1966 he married Bernice Marie Watkin and in 1967 started their family. 1963 saw him get a certificate in Religious Education, and in 1969 obtained both his elementary school and high school teachers’ certificates. Later he went on to obtain a BA at the University of Waterloo in 1969 and then in 1978 he received his Ontario Teachers Certificate. From there on teaching Drama ended up to be his true passion in life and developed long time relationships with past students, as did his wife Bernice.
His career began with elementary school teaching in a mining town Manitouwadge, ON which in Ojibway means the Cave of the Great Spirit, a reservation near Thunder Bay, ON. This is where their respect for the indigenous community started. The family later settled in Ottawa (Nepean) where he taught high school Drama and Geography and coached women’s gymnastics alongside his wife at Sir John A. MacDonald High School until 1988 when the school closed and he transferred to Ridgemont High to finish out the remainder of his teaching career. The family eventually moved to the Ottawa Valley. Ron & family loved the rural life and owned and operated a small farm known as KIN-LEE Farms of Scott Rd, near South Mountain, ON. They raised organic beef, rabbits, and chickens. His true passion was for acting. From 1998-2005 he became a member of the Kemptville Players Theatre Group where he both directed and produced many plays in the community and in winter months enjoyed curling.
A private burial will be held in spring at his eternal resting place at the Pelton Corners Cemetery, in Pelton’s Corners, ON, near to Kemptville, ON.
Donations can be made to the PEP Seniors Therapeutic Centre that offers very much needed community support to Smith Falls/Perth. Programs are offered to help seniors stay healthy and in their own homes as long as possible. It is a structured comprehensive, therapeutic program is offered in a safe setting for clients to attend daily while giving their caregivers some much needed respite.
Tuesday January 24th 2023
Death notice for the town of: Kemptville, Province: Ontario
death notice Ronald Frederick Watkin Tuesday January 24th 2023
obituaries notice Ronald Frederick Watkin Tuesday January 24th 2023
We offer our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Ronald Frederick Watkin Tuesday January 24th 2023 and hope that their memory may be a source of comfort during this difficult time. Your thoughts and kind words are greatly appreciated.