Obituary

Lura watkins passed away on may 1, 2016, at age 90. She was born october 29, 1925, in morgantown, wv, to the late mary pelley and ross bradshaw johnston. The family moved to charleston shortly thereafter. She graduated from charleston high in 1942 and received a ba in psychology from agnes scott college in 1946. She later earned an ma in counseling from wvcogs.
Lura is survived by her husband of nearly 70 years william merle (bill), and her 3 children: mary lu maccorkle (john) of south charleston, william merle watkins, iii, (rhonda) of hurricane, richard ross watkins (kathy) of atlanta; grandchildren: michael maccorkle (lisa), tara ayers (brien), katherine mullins (michael), meredith latta (chris), william merle watkins iv, sarah watkins; and great grandchildren: alexandra maccorkle, reilly ayers, charlotte maccorkle, and robert e.L. Ayers.
Lura and bill moved many times in their early marriage, while bill served in the military and completed school. They moved back to wv in 1952 and lived in south charleston the rest of their married life. Lura worked for a few years in the personnel department of large department stores in pittsburgh and new jersey, then was a stay-at-home mom until 1975 when she became the public relations director of the black diamond girl scout council when she worked until she retired.
Her greatest contributions were to her community. She was a fifty-year member of the woman’s club of south charleston where she served two terms as president, held many other offices, and chaired many committees on the state and district level. She was the president of the south charleston inter-club council, south charleston republican women, montrose garden club and the south charleston beautification commission. She was the chairman of the fire service commission for south charleston and served on the governor’s commission on substance abuse. She was an active member of the first presbyterian church of charleston for her entire life serving as a sunday school teacher, youth fellowship advisor, president of the women of the church, and circle bible moderator. She was active in her chi omega sorority for many years.
Her family extends heart-felt gratitude to her caregivers from crossroads home care and hospice care. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to hospice care or first presbyterian church of charleston.
Memorial service will be held at 10:00 a.M. Saturday, may 14, 2016 at first presbyterian church, leon sullivan way, charleston, wv.