Jack Watts

Jack Edwin Watts was born January 4, 1921, in San Antonio, Texas, the son of Patrick Henry Watts and Vera Simpson Watts. He was the youngest of five children. He lived in San Antonio throughout childhood and graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School.At the outbreak of World War II, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps where he served as a crew chief on B25 weather reconnaissance missions in the North Atlantic and Caribbean. His children and grandchildren loved hearing him tell of his flying adventures that ranged from the coast of South America to Labrador to Greenland, Iceland, Scotland and the Azores. He loved to fly, and kept his audiences enthralled with tales of missions through the eyes of hurricanes. After the war he graduated from Trinity University in San Antonio where he had met and married Dorice Ysleta Swearingen. For over 30 years he was an instructor in personnel management training at Kelly AFB until his retirement in 1980. His children fondly remember him leaving for work every morning, carrying a brown paper sack lunch, and returning home at precisely the same time every evening to fix something around the house, make toys for the kids, and being a husband and father. Jack spent the earlier years building a house and a home for his wife and three children and a houseful of assorted cats, dogs, birds, and a toad named Joe. Despite the neverending projects, he always had time for the backyard games of croquet, baseball, stargazing, or just sitting and talking with his children, whether one at a time or together. Each had a special relationship with that special man.One of his most amazing traits was his patience and long term vision. The epitome of this character was what he did using weekends and spare hours in the 1960s and 1970s. With two hands, one shovel, one wheelbarrow, and a dog named Andy, he dug a lake, one shovelful at a time, at The Lake near Atascosa. With his perseverance, he made a pocket of Eden in the middle of the south Texas mesquite brush plain. With the children grown and starting lives of their own, he and Dorice moved to Kerrville, Texas, to begin a new life together. It was in this home in Kerrville where his grandchildren grew to love him, hear his tales, learn from him, and cherish the special person that his children had already known. Jack and Dorice relished their life in their hill country home for over 24 years. He is survived by Dorice, his beloved wife of more than 57 years, son Donald W. Watts and his wife Carolyn, of Boise, Idaho, and daughter Trudy Watts Irwin and her husband Jess, of Austin, Texas. He was treasured by his grandchildren Siri Watts, Desiny Irwin Villarreal, Sarah Irwin Swanson, SPC J. Matt Irwin, Jason Marsh, Jordan Marsh, SPC Jonathan Marsh, and seven great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his daughter Beverly Watts Marsh, and his parents and three brothers. Jack is also survived by his sister Virginia Watts Lovett of Franklin, Tennessee, and numerous nieces and nephews. On a strong foundation on West Ashby was the house that Jack built. But he built more than just a house he was the strong foundation for our lives. That is his legacy. We love and will forever miss him.A memorial service will be held at 11:00am, Wednesday, June 21, at Trinity Baptist Church in Kerrville. Donations may be made in Jacks name to the Kerrville Public Library or the charity of your choice.

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