Obituary for Steve Watson
(This is the obituary for my dad, Steve Watson. It is also posted here, but I wanted one where the pictures were embedded and that I could add or change things if I wanted.)
Steve Watson (officially Robert S.) passed away on March 28, 2025. He was 84 years old.
He was preceded in death by his parents, RR and Winifred Watson; his sister, Rosellen McGonegle; his brother-in-law, Thomas McGonegle, and his brother-in-law, Ronald Hester.
He is survived by his wife Joyce (nee Andriot), his kids Michael Watson (Kristen) and Kristin Berles (Jim), and his four grandkids, Erin W., Amelia B., Jane W., and Drew W. He is also survived by his two sisters, Toni Hester and Denise Breitweser (Jim), Denise and Jim’s two kids, Sarah (Briggs Heaney), and Rachel, his sister-in-law Jeanne Andriot, Sarah and Brigg’s two kids, Kelin and Roen, and our close family cousins, Courtney and Bryan Blackburn and their two kids Talyor and Ryan.
He was born and raised in Louisville, KY, and spent most of his life there. In early 2020, he and Joyce moved to Alpena, MI, to be closer to Kristin (daughter), Jim (son-in-law), and Amelia (his granddaughter).
Growing up, he was particularly proud of the summers he spent with his cousins on the farms in Whitesville, KY. He pretended to be not so proud of when he was arrested in high school for drag racing (actually for trying to outrun the cops in his car).
After graduating from St. X (class of 1959), he spent a year in the seminary to become a priest. After making lifelong friends there and breaking every rule, the lead priest told him that his vocation was most likely elsewhere.
He graduated from Bellarmine and entered the Air Force. In the Air Force, he was a navigator on the KC-135 (the big in-flight refuelers). He flew missions over Vietnam and some Cold War missions testing USSR radar responses. More importantly, he made life-long friends who were regular visitors for Derby weekends.
While in the Air Force, he married Joyce Andriot and had two kids.
They built a life full of friends: Brunch friends, theater friends, fishing friends, business friends, Bay View friends, woodshop friends, walking friends, Hawaii friends, and probably many more that we missed. He spent many hours plotting special surprises or pranks for his friends and family.
He liked giving people down on their luck a break. We accidentally heard about one or two people he bailed out of jail. We are sure there were more.
He was also quick to rush to danger to help others. In the early 80’s he pulled home from work at the exact moment our neighbor cut the cord with his electric trimmer and was screaming as he was being electrocuted. We’ve never seen Steve run so fast to yank out the cord and save our neighbor’s life.
He liked working with his hands and getting things done. Growing up, we heard the phrase, “you gotta make hay when the sun shines” plenty of times! His side projects included finishing the inside of his cottage, laying tile, building decks, and roofing. He spent his retirement years volunteering in the woodshop in Bay View, where he helped build the mini-train for Tot-Lot, among other things.
His favorite side project was restoring a 1931 Model A Ford pickup truck. In 2001, he went to Detroit and brought home the shell of this car. Ironically, his father-in-law, George Andriot, made this same trip ~65 years earlier, hauling Fords down to Louisville to sell them. He spent twenty years on this, sweating every detail. For example, he and his friend Dave experimented with different blends to get the Kimberly Blue he wanted.
Here is a picture of the car:
One of his favorite things about the car was that he moved the gas tank to the bed and put it inside a bourbon barrel. To do that, they had to take the barrel apart carefully and then put it back together again around the tank. The date on the barrel is a tribute to Joyce: their wedding day.
All of that would have been enough.
However, his true calling turned out to be being a grandfather. Our cousin, Bryan Blackburn, said, “When I’m a grandfather, I’m going to model myself after Stevie!”
He loved his four grandkids more than anything. He got to spend the summers with them in Bay View. His specialty was the Stevie Breakfast. He made them a big breakfast every morning. He would ring an old-fashioned cow bell, and the kids would barrel downstairs for the feast. It was mostly a different breakfast every morning. He would spend all winter thinking of breakfasts and buying special equipment to make new things. It was a dedication that was hard to match.
This Stevie Breakfast was from July 9, 2016.
He was looking forward to completing the circle and giving Amelia her Oath of Office at her graduation from the Air Force Academy.
Here is a picture of everyone at Parents Weekend at the Academy:
Steve wanted a small, private family service. We will also plan an informal open house in the summer.
(Edit: Steve’s good friend, Gary Blackburn, suggested adding a place to donate if people are inclined. He suggested the Bay View woodshop. Kristin and I agree. He had good friends there and liked helping the kids. We won’t plan the summer open house until closer to the summer.)
(Edit: I had the wrong year for the Ford truck and fixed that)
Steve served on the Ops Committee with Bob Wyatt and I in the early 2000's. We were both out of Louisville at the time. I was a GE guy, so we had some things in common. I will remember those days and Steve going forward. I will hope to meet you this summer.
Steve stayed on when I took over the Bay View woodshop. Best gift I was given, him staying on. Loved working with him. I miss him already.