GOLDIE WATSON

EAST PRAIRIE, Mo. -- Goldie A. Watson, 79, of East Prairie, Mo., died Friday, Jan. 26, 2001, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau.

She was born Jan. 5, 1922, in Arkansas, daughter of Eli and Hattie Harlen Thresher. She married Lawrence McIllwain in 1941. He died in 1976. She and Billy Watson were married Feb. 6, 1977.

Watson had lived in Mississippi County most of her life. She worked on her family's farm and was a member of First Baptist Church in East Prairie.

Survivors include her husband; three daughters, LaDonna McIllwain, Shyrl Bradley and Sonja Haines, all of East Prairie; a brother, Floyd Thresher of East Prairie; a sister, Gertrude Bain of East Prairie; three step-sons, Ronald Watson of Kelso, Mo., and Billy R. and Lowell G. Watson, both of East Prairie; and four grandchildren.

A stepdaughter, five brothers and a sister preceded her in death.

Friends may call at the Shelby Funeral Home in East Prairie after 5 p.m. today.

Funeral service will be at 1 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home. The Rev. George White will officiate, with burial in East Prairie Memorial Park Cemetery.