Mary J. Watson

Mary Jean Watson, 97, of Fond du Lac, died Wednesday, October 18, 2023, at Tennyson Senior Living Community in Madison. She was born in Fond du Lac on January 19, 1926, to James and Rose (Lafferty) O’Rourke. Jean, as she was known to friends, and her four brothers were children of the depression, and grew up on a farm in Oakfield until their father’s death.

On September 27, 1947, Jean married James M. Watson, Sr. (Jim), at St. Joseph’s Church in Fond du Lac. In their younger years, Jim and Jean raised their three children, hosted dinner parties, and loved to socialize. He preceded her in death on February 19, 2012.

Jean had various odd jobs throughout her life, including working as a model and salesclerk for Hill’s Department Store, but her greatest purpose in life was caring for others. Jean was the matriarch of her family, taking care of great aunts, both grandmothers, neighbors, and friends. She was a member of Sacred Heart Church in Fond du Lac and Jean’s Catholic faith was a driving force in her life.

You were rarely hungry if Jean was around, typically making enough food to feed a small army during intimate family gatherings. It wasn’t unusual to find Jean and her family and friends sitting around the dinner table well after a meal was finished, talking and laughing. With a particularly good joke or story, she had a tendency to laugh until she cried, a trait she passed on to her daughters and granddaughters.

Jean was an accomplished seamstress, knitter, and bargain hunter. She loved to breathe new life into secondhand items, even remaking her daughter’s wedding dress. She gathered project ideas from magazines and always had a craft project ready for her granddaughters when they visited. Later in life, she indulged her granddaughter’s sewing projects, including a custom senior prom dress. She adored fashion and always had on an outfit ready for a visit from the queen, even if it was a quiet Sunday at home, because “you never know when the queen will stop by.”

Jean is survived by her three children, Janice Watson (Rick Apfel) of Madison; James Watson, Jr., of Bozeman, Montana; and Jill Watson of Key Largo, Florida. Survivors also include two granddaughters, Dana Apfel (Matt Debnar) of Madison, and Megan (Todd) Douglas of Ft. Collins, Colorado, and two great-grandchildren, Milo Debnar and Roarke Debnar, named after Jean’s maiden name. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by an infant daughter, Julie Ann and her four brothers.

The family laid Jean to rest in a private memorial service at Calvary Cemetery on September 27, 2024, on what would have been Jean and Jim’s 77th wedding anniversary.

Services are in the care of Uecker-Witt Funeral Home, 524 North Park Avenue, Fond du Lac, WI, 54935. Additional information and guestbook can be found at ueckerwitt.com