James William Watts Jr.'s Obituary
James William Watts Jr. passed away peacefully in his home, surrounded by his family, on September 4, 2024. Memorial services will be held at 11:00am on Tuesday, September 10 at First United Methodist Church in Longview, TX.
Jim was born on August 15, 1939 in Laurens, South Carolina. At the age of 8, he moved with his family to Rodessa, Louisiana, and later to Shreveport, Louisiana where he graduated from Byrd High School as a member of the Varsity Basketball team. Growing up, he supported his parents by working in the family businesses: a local movie theater and the Shreveport Rent-All. In 1962, he earned a BA in Mechanical Engineering from Louisiana Tech, where he met the love of his life and eternal partner, Bettye, on a blind date set up by his fraternity roommate. They married in 1962 in Alexandria, LA. In 1963, he joined the Air Force Reserves, where Bettye and Jim started their first business together sewing patches on airmen uniforms for 5 cents each. They moved to Alexandra, LA in 1964, and soon welcomed their first daughter, Kim, that same year. Their second daughter, Carol, came two years later in 1966. In 1969 they moved to Longview, TX to raise their children, and Jim began his 29-year career at Texas Eastman where he worked a variety of engineering jobs.
Jim retired from Texas Eastman in 1995, and became a franchise owner of Sylvan Learning Center, both here in Longview and in Alexandra, LA, where he and Bettye committed to decades of enriching the lives and education of children from across the region. This same year, they bought their first RV and set out traveling across the country. Jim was passionate about exploring the Great Outdoors, and together in their motor home, he and Bettye visited all 50 United States and most of our National Parks. He loved bringing his children and grandchildren along for the ride, teaching them to camp, fish, grill and golf. He also enjoyed traveling outside the US, visiting almost a dozen foreign countries. He was passionate in every pursuit, and in his free time enjoyed golfing, fishing, wood-working and restoring classic Chevy cars. He had a brilliant mind, and was often known to disassemble appliances in order to learn how they worked, sometimes to his wife’s exasperation. He devoted his life to loving God and his family, and never missed an opportunity to shower them with his affection.
Toward the end of his life, he was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, and was blessed to be cared for by his wife and daughters to the very end. He is predeceased by his parents, James and Nell Watts. He is survived by his wife Bettye, his daughter Kim Beck and her husband Greg, his daughter Carol Pope, his sister Barbara Humphrey and her husband Jimmy, his seven grandchildren: Austin & Emma Beck, Trace Pope, Haley (Beck) and Bill Van Cleve, Elise Pope and Will Pope; and his four great-grandchildren: James Beck, Connor Beck, and two babies on the way.
The family would like to sincerely thank Dr. Kathleen Harris for her dedicated long-term medical care and friendship, as well as the UT Southwest Pulmonology Team. In lieu of flowers, gifts can be made in Jim’s honor to PGA HOPE: online at www.pgareach.org/donate or by mail to PGA Foundation Inc, d/b/a PGA HOPE, 100 Avenue of the Champions, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33418.
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