Birth date: Feb 2, 1938 Death date: Sep 29, 2019
William Ernest Watkins, Jr. was born on February 2nd, 1938 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to William and Helen Watkins. Soon after, Bill, his parents and his sister Anne moved to a farm in Connecticut where Bill developed his love of Read Obituary
When Bill was a teenager, his family lived in a row house in Baynesville, MD. Next door lived the Proudfoots, a family with four children. The Proudfoots still remember a bizarre incident involving Bill and his older sister, Anne, when they were teenagers. One evening the Proudfoots were all enjoying a quiet dinner when all of a sudden their front door flew open. Anne came running into their house yelling, "Don't let him touch me! Don't let him touch me!" She ran through the living room, through the dining room where the family was eating, through the kitchen, and out the back door, all the while yelling, "Don't let him touch me!" Right behind her came Bill trying to catch her, likewise running straight through the house and out the back door. Then all was quiet again. The Proudfoots never learned what it was all about or how it ended up, but they never stopped laughing about it.
Fred Sauerbrey, Husband of Anne, Brother-In-Law of Bill
Rest in peace, my wonderful Brother-In-Law
The best of the younger life of my brother Bill ("Billy" to me) was five years in Orange, CT on the farm bailing hay and making forts with bails of hay, playing croquet and badminton, and biking the country roads. We began our week with loads of worship and activity at the Orange Congregational Church. Our Dad was Sunday School Superintendent and Mom was a Sunday School teacher. Billy and I attended weekly softball games where Dad was the pitcher for his company's team. He frequently took us to the beach close by on Long Island Sound. Billy and I were active in Four-H Club; he won ribbons with our family garden produce in the annual fair, along with Mom's canned produce. Dancing class every Friday evening was a special time, followed by square dancing every Saturday. Billy had a lucrative country paper route enabling him to own a horse. There was a leaning water tower that mom warned us to stay away from because it was ready to topple (1945 - 1950). The tower still stands today and we warn our own children and grandchildren to stay away from it when we visit the old neighborhood.
Anne Watkins Sauerbrey
Sister of Bill
Bill was fun to be around. I was his neighbor when he lived in Riviera Beach & was building his race cars. "Wild Bill Watkins" as he was known on the racing circuit, would let the younger guys in the neighborhood to help him ready his cars for the weekend race. I say race (one race) because he usually only entered one race & wrecked & then trailers his car home to start the rebuild on Monday. I lost track of Bill after he moved to Cape St. Claire, but many years later he showed up at my home to inspect an addition I was building. I pray for Bill's family to have faith that he is good hands now even though he will be tremendously missed.
