Obituary of Dorotha Belle Watson

Funeral Services for Dorotha of Elsberry, MO will be held at 11:00 a.m. Friday, February 26, 2021 at New Hope Baptist Church near Elsberry. Rev. Stephen McLane, church pastor, will officiate with burial in New Hope Cemetery. Serving as pallbearers will be Bryan Watson, Jason Turnbull, Patrick McLeod, Tyler Turnbull, Kyle Turnbull and Charles Brady McLeod. Honorary Pallbearers will be Ryley Turnbull, Isabella McLeod, Rosalee Watson and Luke Watson. Mrs. Watson, 100, passed away Monday night, February 22, 2021 at her home. Born September 24, 1920 in the Okete community near Elsberry, she was the daughter of Charles Walker and Mary Belle Cannon Finley. Dorotha began school at Reid School in Okete and graduated in 1938 from Elsberry High School. She was united in marriage on December 16, 1940 at the Homeplace (The Finley Family Farm) near Elsberry to Claude William Watson. This union was blessed with one son, Charles William. Dorotha was a lifelong resident of the Elsberry area and of New Hope Baptist Church, where she worked as a clerk for several years. She volunteered as a 4-H Leader, did census for several years and enjoyed quilting, sewing, gardening, yardwork and farm work. Dorotha was preceded in death by her parents, Charles and Mary Finley; her sister, Charlene Finley Edwards and her husband, Archie; her in-laws: Katherine and Eric Chandler, Helen and Leonard Burns, Marjorie Wisner, Walter and Genevieve Watson, Harry and Gerdie Watson and Corley and Anna Belle Watson; and her beloved husband of nearly 59 years, Claude Watson, who died on May 8, 1999. Survivors include her son, Charles Watson and his wife, Mary Ellen, of Troy, MO; three grandchildren: Amy Turnbull and her husband, Jason, Bryan Watson and his wife, Lynne, and Kim McLeod and her husband, Patrick; and seven great-grandchildren: Tyler, Kyle and Ryley Turnbull, Rosalee and Luke Watson and Charles Brady and Isabella McLeod. Dorotha also leaves many other relatives and friends. Visitation will be held from 9:30 a.m. until the time of Funeral Services at 11:00 a.m. Friday, February 26, 2021 at New Hope Baptist Church. Memorials may be made to New Hope Cemetery in care of Carter-Ricks Funeral Home, 107 S. 5th Street; Elsberry, MO 63343.