DURWARD R. " DOC" WATSON

Durward R. "Doc" Watson passed from this earthly life on Saturday, September 22, 2007. Doc was born on April 26, 1919 on the old Watson homeplace in the community of Watson in Burnet County, TX. He was preceded in death by his parents, Marcus P. and Sarah Frances Watson. He attended school at Lampasas, graduating in 1937. He then served four years in the U.S. Air Force during World War II. Upon completion of his tour of duty, he enrolled in the University of Texas where he received a degree in Civil Engineering. He was elected to Chi Epsilon, honorary Civil Engineering Fraternity and Tau Beta Pi, honorary Engineering Fraternity. Upon graduation, he went to work for the Texas Highway Department. In 1954, he was engineer on what was then one of the largest bridges in Texas between Clarksville, Texas and Idabell, Oklahoma. In 1955, he was selected to be Design Engineer on the Sherman expressway, a multi-lane highway between Sherman and Denison, Texas. With the signing into law of the interstate highway program, he was transferred to Mt. Vernon, Texas, where he supervised the location, design and construction of IH-30 in Franklin and Hopkins counties. Upon completion of IH-30 in the Paris district, he again moved to the district headquarters, where he was District Planning and District Construction Engineer. While serving there, Doc was named Northeast Texas Engineer of the Year. In 1973, he was appointed District Engineer of the San Angelo District where he supervised the operations in 13 counties in West Texas. Later the district was expanded to 17 counties when the Del Rio district was closed, making the San Angelo district the largest highway district in the state. In 1976, Doc was honored by being named Boss of the Year by the San Angelo chapter of the Secretaries Association. Doc is survived by his wife, Kathryn (Kitty) of 64 years, his daughters Kay and husband Gary Bernethy, and Lee Ann and husband, Tom Ballo; grandchildren Jared and Kim Bernethy, Justin Bernethy, Kacee and Butch Boatright, Ryan and Lauren Renfrow and one great grandson, Hunter Boatright. Funeral services will be held 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, September 25, 2007 at Robert Massie Riverside Chapel with burial to follow at Watson Cemetery in Lampasas, TX. Pallbearers are Glenn Youngblood, Ralph Wilson, John Mills, Al McKee, Bill Harrington and Walter McCullough. Honorary Pallbearers will be members of the Flores Sunday School Class at First Baptist Church. Memorials may be made in memory of Doc to your favorite charity.