John Watson

John Wayne Watson of Cleburne, passed away January 29, 2021 in Dallas, Texas
He was born March 1, 1941 in Cleburne, Texas to Samuel William “Sam” Watson and Evelyn Rosella Martin of Nemo, Texas. John married Jeanetta Roberts November 27, 1963 in Cleburne.


John is survived by his wife of 57 years, Jeanetta Roberts Watson; two sons, Samuel Edward “Eddie” Watson and wife Tina of Cleburne, Texas and Gregory Wayne (Greg) Watson of Rio Vista, Texas;
four grandsons, Jonathan Edward and Kelly Watson of Cleburne, Texas; Garrett Wayne Watson of Cleburne, Texas; Charles Lucus and Savannah Watson of Midlothian, Texas; and Kenton Seth Watson of Rio Vista, Texas one great-grandson, Everett Xavier Watson of Natchitoches, Louisiana;
two great-granddaughters, Kayelynn Mae Watson and Parker June Watson of Cleburne, Texas
one aunt, Vera Martin Bird of Cleburne, Texas and one uncle: Elzie Martin of Las Vegas, Nevada

John was a member of Henderson Street Baptist Church in Cleburne, Texas. He was an ordained Deacon since 1970. A long-time appointee to the Johnson County Historical Commission and a long-time member of the Johnson County Genealogical Society. John attended Cleburne schools

John worked at Piggly Wiggly and Safeway and then worked for the City of Cleburne, retiring from the Cemetery and Parks Departments with 25 years. After his retirement he worked for the City of Keene.

He loved writing for The Eagle (The Old Codger) and for the Cleburne Times-Review (Texas Traveler). After he was not physically able to do the research for the history, he wrote all the memories he could remember that had been told to him buy the older generations of his family and it was put it in book form for the future generations of his family. John was not usually a man to show a lot of emotions but loved his family deeply and loved others. He just loved people. If he was your friend you had a friend for a lifetime. John Watson was loved and will be missed by many family members and friends.

He was known for the stories he could tell, some of those stories would start out sounding so serious then you would realize that it was not true at all. But when it came to the history of our town, state and country he was very serious about them. His newspaper articles were bound and shared with his family, Museums and others because as he put it he "wanted everyone to know the history of this great U.S.A. and especially our great state, Johnson and Somervell Counties."

John donated his body to UNT Health Science Center in Fort Worth, Texas.

A memorial service followed by a visitation will be at Henderson Street Baptist Church on Saturday, February 6, 2021; 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. officiated by Bro. Neale Oliver, pastor.