Kate Laverne Watson

Funeral services for Mrs. Laverne Watson, 91, of Kilgore will be held on Tuesday, July 18, 2023, at 2:00 P.M. at the Forest Home Baptist Church with Reverend Riley Pippen officiating. Burial will follow at the Hickory Grove Cemetery. The family will receive friends at Rader Funeral Home in Kilgore on Monday from 6:00 P.M. until 8:00 P.M. Mrs. Watson passed away on Thursday, July 13, 2023, at her home in Kilgore.

Laverne was born on September 24, 1931, in rural Rusk County. She was the youngest daughter of the late Clarence Adrian Lee and Mattie Gertrude Dudley Lee. In her early adult life she performed office work in the Dallas/Ft Worth area. After marrying Erskine, she became an Air Force wife. Leaving military life, she became a devoted homemaker and mother in the Kilgore area. Laverne will be remembered for her cooking and magnificent flower gardens and was a member of Forest Home Baptist Church.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 71 years Erskine; both of her parents; siblings Gertrude Flournoy (Earl), Ruby Flournoy (T.A.), Hallie Latham (Paul), Olive Gore (Uthel), Rose Cole (Lee), Victor Lee, Newton Lee, and Russell Lee; daughter-in-law Donna Watson; sister-in-laws Patsy Walker (Alton), Carol Watson, and Shirley Watson.

Laverne is survived by her sons David Watson (Kelly) and Steven Watson; brother-in-laws William Everett Watson and Major General (ret) Gerald Glenn Watson; grandchildren Virginia Gayle Brownell (Craig), Marc David Watson (Heather), Kevin Lee Watson, Amanda Marie Latham (Matt), and Jessica Lynn Marquez (Kevin James); great grandchildren Olivia Gayle and Levi James Brownell, and Cadance Valerie, Victoria Grace, and Evelynn-Marie Violet Watson; many nieces and nephews and other family and friends.

Memorials may be made in the memory of Kate Laverne Watson to Forest Home Baptist Church, PO Box 1340 Kilgore, Texas 75662-1340.