Marvin Daniel Watkins

RALEIGH Marvin was the youngest son of Robert Oscar Watkins and Carrie Peebles Phillips Watkins of Raleigh. The 12th child, Marvin always had a crowd to have fun with, despite growing up during the Great Depression. He loved baseball and football, playing or watching, especially Wake Forest and N.C. State. He loved bike riding, hunting, fishing, being a Boy Scout, the YMCA, reading, word puzzles, cowboy movies, real Coca-Cola in glass bottles, barbecue, peaches and vanilla ice cream. Carrying a paper route for “The Raleigh Times” was his first job as a young boy; his favorite customer was Governor Clyde R. Hoey because they often had a chat and sometimes he got to sample new recipes the cook had just made. His next job was for Fallons Florist in their greenhouses and he loved all flowers, especially azaleas. Spring azaleas in Raleigh always made him comment, “That’s probably one I raised.” Marvin was a graduate of Hugh Morson High School, attended N.C. State, joined the U.S. Air Force because he wanted to fly airplanes like two of his brothers, but double pneumonia due to dust storms in San Antonio, Texas, where he was stationed, sent him home because he couldn’t be talked into being an officer. He returned to Raleigh and got a job as a load dispatcher with Carolina Power Light Company, where he traveled throughout North Carolina and South Carolina, making many friends wherever he went; his favorite places and people were in Henderson, Selma, Rocky Mount, and West End in North Carolina and Florence, Hartsville, Cheraw and Greenville in South Carolina. His time in North Carolina increased his love of barbecue and peaches; his time in South Carolina decreased his love for rice. During his career, he worked at the Method substation, the A.J. Scales office and the Center Plaza building in downtown Raleigh. After a lengthy career, he retired as a Senior Systems Operations Specialist. He had a lot of friends of all ages, enjoyed sharing whatever he could and helping those in need. He loved little children and supported orphanages from an early age as he could. He especially loved Christmas, the beach, history, stamps, coins and traveling to historic sites in North Carolina. He loved making crafts and birdwatching with Calico cat, Chessie, and often said she thought he was her mama. He loved vegetable gardening and sharing the harvests with friends and neighbors. His tomatoes were delicious and legendary! He bought some farmland in Franklin County, then a tractor and the vegetable and flower garden grew. He dug a pond with an island in the middle and the bass and bream were trained to swim toward him because they knew he’d feed them. On September 15, 1956, Marvin married Patsy Ann Hawks, the girl next door and the girl across the street. He always said she was the best looking girl he knew and her beautiful smile and pretty blue eyes could light up a room and his heart. He was her rock and she was his everything. They have one daughter, Marva Ann Watkins, whom he was most proud of, most of all because she was her daddy’s girl. Patsy and Marva are broken-hearted, but are comforted in knowing their family will be together one day with Jesus in Heaven. Funeral service will be held on Thursday, June 18, 2020, at 11:00 a.m., at the Bryan-Lee Funeral Home Chapel, 831 Wake Forest Road, Raleigh. Originally planned as a graveside service, it has been relocated to the funeral home chapel because of weather. There will be no visitation. Due to the pandemic, those attending are asked to please wear a mask. In lieu of flowers, contributions in memory of Marvin may be made to Meredith College, 3800 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, NC 27607. Arrangements are by Bryan-Lee Funeral Home, 831 Wake Forest Road, Raleigh, North Carolina 27604.