Martha Bailey Watson

Martha B. Watson, aged 86, passed away on May 21, 2017, at home in Morganton, Georgia, where she lived with her son, John, for the past year. She was surrounded by family from near and far.

Martha was born in Decatur, Alabama, November 19, 1930, the only child of Eugene and Martha (Porter) Bailey. After college education at Randolph Macon Women's College and the University of Alabama, she married J. Eugene Watson, Jr. in 1953. They had 3 children, which she raised with strong ethics. She later received a masters degree in counseling and focused on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.

Martha was a Southern Lady, with class, manners, style, and a graciousness that put everyone at ease. She was known for her hospitality, her garden full of delicious things to eat as well as flowers, her love of antiques. She collected antique quilt tops, which she then hand quilted and used or gave to her family. She loved to make crocheted rag rugs, which fed her thrifty sensibility as well as her creativity, and suited her motto of being surrounded by useful, beautiful and handmade objects. During the 1960s, the president of Allis Chalmers, a major corporation, told her husband that she was his greatest asset. She traveled broadly throughout her life, going to unusual places such as Iran in the 1970s, China and Tibet in the 19080s, Egypt, Tanzania and Kenya. She collected art from all of her travels, meeting the artists if she could. She volunteered in St Augustine with the Colonial Quarter, the City of St Augustine Archeology Program, and was a Florida Certified Mediator in Small Claims Court.

Martha was a faithful and devout Christian, a member of Flagler Memorial Presbyterian Church in St Augustine, Florida, where she lived in the winter months, and St Luke's Episcopal Church in Blue Ridge, Georgia, where she lived in the summer months. She was appropriately named "Martha", as she embodied the values and personality of the Biblical Martha of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus. She was generous, loving, and a servant throughout her life, doing practical acts such as working in thrift stores, all the while yearning for "the one thing needful", which was to sit at the feet of Christ and listen. She was always giving to others, expecting little in return.

Martha is survived by her husband, J. Eugene Watson, 93, of St Augustine, Florida, to whom she was faithfully married for 63 years. Her love lives on in her children: John Watson of Morganton, Georgia; Bess (Steven) Crider of Waynesville, North Carolina; Martha Grace (Anthony) Barkdoll of Athens, Georgia; as well as 6 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren.

A private funeral is held on May 22, 2017, at St Lukes Episcopal Church, where she will be buried. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts can be given to St Luke's Episcopal in Blue Ridge, Georgia, or Flagler Memorial Presbyterian in St Augustine, Florida.

Arrangements entrusted to the Henry-Cochran Funeral Home of Blue Ridge. You may send condolences to the family and sign the guest registry at www.cochranfuneralhomes.com