Delores Joan Watson

Delores Joan Watson, 79 of Grand Island, died Tuesday, February 9, 2016 at CHI Health St. Francis, Grand Island.



Services will be 11:00 A.M. Friday, February 12, 2016 at Apfel Funeral Home in Grand Island. Pastor Beth Gregory will be officiating. Burial will be 2:30 P.M. Friday at Ft. McPherson National Cemetery in Maxwell, Nebraska.



Visitation hours will be from 4-7 P.M. Thursday at the Funeral Home. Memorials are suggested to Childrens Hospital of Washington, DC. Apfel Funeral Home is caring for the family.



Delores Joan Watson was born December 7, 1936 in Royal, Nebraska the daughter of Gerald L. & Amy P. (Bruner) Allen. The family lived in Royal, Nebraska for 12 years where she received her early education, later moving to Lake Andes, South Dakota where her dad worked on the Fort Randal Dam, before making their home in Grand Island where she graduated from Grand Island Senior High with the class of 1954. She attended Kearney State Teachers College and Grand Island Central Community College.



She was united in marriage to Dix Watson, December 1954 in Grand Island, NE. They spent 20 years moving as Dix was in the Army. The couple made their home in Grand Island where she was employed at the Grand Island Senior Center.



She was a member of First Baptist Church in Grand Island where she held several offices and taught adult Sunday School class for many years.



Joan enjoyed gardening and had lots of pretty flowers. She also enjoyed reading, needlework, and did a lot of handiwork. Her greatest enjoyment was spending time with her family. Joan enjoyed bowling in the Senior League at Westside Lanes until her health made her quit.



Those left to cherish her memory include her children, Dixie Sollazzo of Crisfield, Maryland; Denise and Chris Johnson of Boelus; 8 grandchildren; 2 step-grandchildren; 5 great-granddaughters; 2 great-grandsons; sister, Gloria Roach of Ashton.



She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Dix Watson; and brother, Gailen Al Allen of Ashton.