Mrs. Mary Watkins age 75, a homemaker of the Defeated Creek Community, was pronounced deceased at the Highpoint Health – Riverview @ Ascension Saint Thomas Emergency Room at 10:10 p.m. Thursday evening January 8, 2026 as a result of drowning.
The automobile accident was reported to Smith County E-911 at 5:40 p.m. that an automobile had left the roadway at 157 Lakeside Drive in the Defeated Creek Community and entered Cordell Hull Lake across from the Corps of Engineers Campground.
Mrs. Watkins was at the Hackett Chapel of Sanderson Funeral Home in the Kempville Community where her services were conducted on Tuesday January 13th at 3 p.m. with Eld. David Turner, from the Kingdom Hall, the officiant. Burial followed beside her husband Billy Sr. in the Gazebo Garden at the Defeated Creek Memorial Gardens with Bro. Darius Watkins officiating.
The family will receive friends at Sanderson in Kempville on Monday January 12th from 2 p.m. until 6 p.m. and again on Tuesday after 1 p.m.
She was the 4th of thirteen children born to the late Richard Sears who died December 16, 1987 at the age of 77 and Mildred Wilson Lee Sears February 14, 1988 at the age of 65 and was born Mary Margaret Sears in Russellville in Logan County, Kentucky on May 26, 1950.
Five siblings preceded her in death, Linda Sears Anderson, Buddy, Roger, Ed, & Harold Sears.
In Ringgold, Georgia on October 1, 1965, Mrs. Watkins was united in marriage to Rusellville, Kentucky native, Billy George Watkins. He preceded her in death at the age of 77 on January 10, 2024 following over fifty-eight years of marriage. They lovingly referred to each other as soul mates.
Mrs. Watkins was a member of the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah Witnesses in the Tanglewood Community.
She and her husband possessed a love and desire to witness to all and to make Jehovah’s name known to all and to preach about his son, Jesus Christ, and the heavenly kingdom and the government that will bring peaceful conditions to all mankind. They made this and their family their focus in life.
In 1985 the Watkins family relocated to the Kempville Community from the New Middleton Community and after selling their Kempville home relocated to a home on Defeated Creek Highway.
Mrs. Watkins is survived by four children, April Watkins-Doeg and husband Ernie of Medford, Massachusetts, Daniel Watkins and fiancée Gina of the Defeated Creek Community, Billy Watkins Jr. also of the Defeated Creek Community, Nigel Watkins of Wartburg, Tennessee; seven grandchildren, Harlan & Asher Doeg, Jaxon Watkins, Mary Claire Watkins and Delaney Sue Watkins, Mai & Macy Dyer.
Mary was deeply loved by her children and considered them to be the all-important persons in her life following the death of her husband Billy Sr.
“She was an inspiration to all who knew her and her charisma would make everyone feel comfortable that was in her presence.”
Pallbearers: Kevin Dickerson, Stephen Duke, Jimmy Chasteen, LeRoy McNeil, Jonathan Swanson, & Ernie Doeg
To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Mary, please visit our floral store.
This obituary was published by Sanderson Funeral Homes, Inc..
This obituary was published by Obituaries provided free for the community.
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