Jean Watkins

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Jean Arlene (Lewis) Watkins (Grandma), age 97, passed away on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015 at a local hospital.

Services will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2015, at Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel. A viewing will be held from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m., and funeral services will begin at 11 a.m. Burial with military honors will follow at Mountain View Cemetery.

Arrangements are under the direction of Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel.

Jean was born Dec. 21, 1917, to Reed and Mable Lewis in Three Rivers, Mich., where she went through school and became a hotel bookkeeper, camp counselor and swimming instructor. She joined the WAC in World War II and served as a courier of documents between Fort Dix, N.J., and Washington, D.C. At that time, she was married to Claude Lantz, who was killed in the trenches in France.

She moved to Wisconsin after the war and married Charles Le Capitaine. Here, she was mom to one daughter, Carole, and the "fix-it lady" for bikes, roller skates, skinned knees, etc., to all the kids in the village. In 1960, Jean left Wisconsin with her daughter and moved to Orlando, Fla., where she worked at Martin-Marietta, building missile systems for the space program and saw the first guided missiles go up.

She then met and married Jack "Sarge' Watkins, and together they raised and trained quarter horses, and she won many blue ribbons barrel racing at horse shows and rodeos.

When Jack's future retirement from the Air Force came up, they moved out west and ended up settling in Mountain Home. After Jack's death, she moved near her daughter and son-in-law in West Bend, Wis., but missed Idaho so much she moved back to Mountain Home in the '80s. She began her greatest adventure with Bible Baptist Church and the many wonderful, loving people who introduced her to her best friend and savior, Jesus. He and the people of the church surrounded her with love as the world started leaving Jean behind, and she went to be cared for by Charlene at Cedar Crest because she would not leave Idaho until Jesus took her home.

Jean is survived by her daughter Carole, son-in-law Paul Gundrum, granddaughter Sherry (Marc Mikkelson) and great-grandchildren Ethan (Brittany), Trevor and Bethany. She was preceded in death by her mother, father, Claude Lantz, Charles Le Capitaine, Jack Watkins, brother Darrell and her sister, June.