LillianVida Watson

Lillian Vida Clarke Watson, beloved mother, grandmother, great grandmother and friend, died Friday, July 11, 2008 at the home of her daughter, at the age of 95 years, of causes incident to age. She was born March 20, 1913 in Rexburg, Idaho, a daughter of William Thomas and Annie Rasmussen Clarke. She was the 13th of 14 children, and was the last living member of that family. She attended school in Rexburg and then enrolled in Rick’s College, graduating with an Associate degree in Education. It was there that she met her husband, Elden Meservy Watson. They were married in 1933 in the Salt Lake Temple and then returned to Rexburg until Elden completed a degree in forestry. From there they moved to Logan until her husband’s graduation from Utah State Agricultural College. All three of their children were born in Logan – L. Eldeen married Floyd Trimble, deceased, Robert Elden married Barbara Davies, and Roger Clarke married Lois Baldwin. Their family moved several times and lived in several places across the country, but in 1952 the family made a final move to Bountiful where the children matured and married, and where Lillian worked in the Church and became a beloved and exemplary grandmother and a capable elementary school teacher. After moving to Bountiful, Lillian again picked up her schooling and graduated from the University of Utah, with a degree in Elementary Education – attending at the same time as her daughter. She was a favorite teacher for 20 years in Davis County Schools, until 1972 when she retired at the end of the school year to fill an LDS Mission to Canada with her husband. Lillian was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served in many capacities in both her Ward and Stake, including Choir President, MIA Speech Director, YWMIA President, Genealogy Teacher, a Bishop’s wife, and in many other callings. She and her husband were called to be Coordinators to organize and direct the first Regional Extraction Center for the Church in the Bountiful area in 1979. Lillian and her husband served as temple ordinance workers in the Salt Lake Temple during three different periods of several years each. They served as missionaries to the Indians in Nevada earlier, and in 1973 they were called to serve in the Alberta-Saskatchewan Canada Mission. Lillian was always active in the local Republican Party, and served as a district officer many times. She was also a charter member of the Five Spires Camp of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers. She spent her life doing good, serving her neighbors and friends as well as ward members and family. And she did it in her usual pleasant, kind, and fun-loving way, despite the handicap of progressive blindness from macular degeneration. Her greatest joy was her family. She and Elden organized their family and held yearly Family Reunions with their growing posterity. Family always loved to come &qoute;home&qoute;. As the grandchildren grew and married they loved to visit in her home, where she entertained and played with the great-grandchildren as she had with their parents – always a friend and supporter. In 1987 her husband was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and she gradually became his caregiver and nurse. She was his loving support during that debilitating disease for 15 years until his death in 2002, after which she made her home with her daughter in Bountiful. She is survived by her 3 children, 18 grandchildren, 60 great-grandchildren, and 2 great, great-grandchildren, at the present time. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, July 19, 2008 Funeral services are being handled by Russon Brothers Mortuary in Bountiful. Services will be held Saturday morning, July 19, at 11 a.m. at the Bountiful South Stake Center, 1250 South Main Street in Bountiful. There will be viewings on Friday night from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Russon Bros. Mortuary, Main Street and 3rd North in Bountiful, and again on Saturday morning prior to the services at the church house – from 10 to 10:45 a.m. Burial will be in the Bountiful Cemetery.