AUDREY WATSON obituary

Audrey Jean Watson, 77, died Monday, May 15, 2006, at her home in Havre after a valiant battle with cancer.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Friday at Van Orsdel United Methodist Church in Havre.

Audrey was born March 4, 1929, to Edward Lumas Layhee and Alberta Marguerita Meader Layhee in Plattsburg, N.Y. She was raised in Dannemore, N.Y.

She met Henry Earl Watson while he was stationed in New Jersey. They were married July 19, 1946, in New Brunswick, N.Y., and were two months short of their 60th wedding anniversary. They traveled out West by train to Gildford, where they farmed north of Gildford for many years.

Audrey was active as a wife and mother, but also was active in the Gildford First Baptist Church and the Women's Club.

In 1964, they moved to Chinook, where she was active in raising her family, supporting her husband in his duties, and with the Methodist Church and Cowbelles Association. She actively supported her children in 4-H and Rodeo Club and was a partner in a ceramic shop. She was artistic with clay as well as with floral design and interior design.

Earl and Audrey founded and owned Watson Trucking from 1971 to 2003. They moved to Havre in 2004.

Audrey's family was her priority, and she enjoyed her many friends. She loved to bake, and enjoyed fishing, traveling, movies, singing and dancing, reading, gardening, and watching football and basketball games and bullriding. Audrey was a hardworking, elegant, and loving and dedicated wife, mother and grandmother.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Alberta Marguerita and Edward Layhee; sister, Elizabeth Ann; brothers, Charles Edward and Edward Lumas; and a granddaughter.

Survivors include her husband, Henry Earl Watson of Havre; daughter, Victoria “Viki” (Don) Blackburn of Wickenburg, Ariz.; son, Craig Allen (Linda) Watson of Havre and James Terry (Barbara) Watson of Alpharetta, Ga.; 10 grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; sisters, Marion Kane of Somerset, N.J., and Evelyn Eyre of Torrington, Conn.; brothers, Patrick Layhee of Watsonville, Calif., and Harold F. Layhee of San Antonio, Texas; numerous nieces and nephews; and sisters-in-law, Jean Watson of Havre, Daisy Watson of Laurel and Gen Layhee of Plattsburg, N.Y.

Memorials are suggested to the Methodist Church in Chinook and Bear Paw Hospice.

Arrangements are by Edwards Funeral Home in Chinook.