Mary Cleoria Watkins

Mary Cleoria Watkins, 92, of Lincolnton passed away May 11, 2024.  She was known as a strong and sensible woman who was trusted and deeply loved.  Louis Quails and Rachael Ricketts were parents to Mary, along with her sister Florence.  She married James Watkins (deceased) and enjoyed traveling extensively with him throughout the United States and many places internationally.  Together they enjoyed their children: Michael Anthony Watkins and daughter in law Laura, Patricia Ann Watkins Wynn and son in law Donald, Myra Edwina Watkins, and Avis Athena Watkins. She has seven 5 generations of grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren.  She is also survived by aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins and over 8 million spiritual brothers and sisters.
Mary grew up on the Eastern shore in Maryland in the country, along with many aunts, uncle, cousins, and in-laws.  She loved her family dearly. She and her husband were good strong parents who raised their children to be clean, organized, and respectful.  They taught spiritual values to their children and did very well overcoming many challenges.  
She retired after over 40 years at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Lyons, New Jersey.  She enjoyed assisting her patients and was well respected by them and her co-workers.  She also worked in the operating room handling the instruments alongside the doctors during surgeries.
She was baptized in 1953 as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.  For over 70 years, she always had a full share in the ministry of teaching others the Bible and loved it so much!  She thoroughly enjoyed learning about the Bible and following Jesus’ commands to share the Good News of God’s Kingdom with everyone she could, along with her spiritual family around the world (Matthew 24:14).  Even with deteriorating health, she kept giving her best to her God, Jehovah.  She prayed for the well-being of her spiritual brothers and sisters and also that others would get to know Jehovah and Jesus.  She really loved preparing for her weekly meetings, family worship, and doing Bible research.  A highlight of her year was attending the spiritual assemblies and conventions of Jehovah’s Witnesses, where she could fellowship and embrace her many spiritual brothers and sisters.
She truly loved showing hospitality in a variety of ways!  She enjoyed taking friends out for meals: breakfast, lunch, and supper.  She also enjoyed using her home for weekly spiritual gatherings and for the ministry.  She enjoyed playing cards and word games were especially fun for her.
She cared for her 94-year-old mother for many years until she passed away.  Because her own health problems were increasing, she moved to North Carolina to live with her daughter, Myra and was occasionally assisted by other family members.  Mary enjoyed many rides through the country and many places, exploring back roads and seeing the many sights.  She also looked forward to choosing a restaurant for a meal.
Mary had a great love for Jehovah and appreciation for Jesus’ sacrifice for us.  She always kept her hope of the future Paradise bright by attending meetings in person or virtually on Zoom.  Even though dealing with many personal challenges, she wrote cards and letters to her friends and family.  Mary had a long and interesting life, and she faithfully served her God Jehovah and she was deeply encouraged by his promises to end all suffering for everyone and restore the earth to Paradise again. Mary and her spiritual family look forward to the resurrection promise at Acts 24:15 "And I have hope toward God, which hope these men also look forward to, that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous." And one of her favorite scriptures was Revelation 21:4 "And he [God] will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore.  The former things have passed away."
Mary, her daughter Myra, and the local congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses have a high love and respect for our first responders in the Lincoln County and surrounding areas and they showed this by providing meals for the Police and Sheriff Departments, EMS, Fire Department, Volunteer Fire Department, and the Lincolnton Animal Shelter.  It is hoped that they all remember the respect and appreciation from Mary and other Witnesses because of the sacrifices that First Responders make on behalf of so many.
A Memorial service will be held on Saturday, June 8, 2024 at 1:30 p.m. at Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, 2718 Linden St., Bethlehem, PA 18017.  In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to VIA Health Partners, Hospice & Palliative Care Charlotte Region, 7845 Little Avenue
Charlotte, NC 28226 or to Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses at that above address or to Watchtower & Bible Tract Society of PA at www.jw.org (scroll to donations at the bottom right of the page).

For those unable to travel to or attend the service in PA, the service will be live on ZOOM.  The ZOOM ID # is 825 4305 2814