Henry James "Jim" Watkins Jr

Henry James “Jim” Watkins, Jr. CLEARFIELD - Henry “Jim” Watkins Jr. passed away surrounded by his wife and family, on Saturday January 30, 2010 in Clearfield, Utah. He was born to Henry James and Edna Dean Rawson Watkins in Ogden, Utah on March 23, 1922. He was raised in Providence, Utah where he spent much of his time hiking and hunting in the local foothills with the beloved family dog, Buck. Jim was a Chief Radioman with the U.S. Navy, serving during World War II. He was on board the USS St. Louis in the attack at Pearl Harbor, and served during other major battles of World War II and the Korean War including Pearl Harbor, Tarawa Landings, China where he lived in Nan Ging, and Tokyo. He was honorably discharged in 1952. He married Beth Reeves on March, 27, 1954 and was sealed to his wife and family in the Logan LDS Temple July 9, 1959. He was a self-educated Electrical Engineer. Not many with college degrees could out design him! He worked for Sears in Logan, Utah as a TV repairman. He later worked for Hill Air Force Base as a radio repair engineer and logistics support engineer. He retired from Hill AFB in 1977. Jim was always a radioman, very active in ham radio, with his well-known call sign W7ZWJ. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he was a High Priest, served as Elder’s Quorum President, and a Sunday School President. Jim loved his family, electronics, photography, ham radio, riding his motorcycle, and tinkering around in his garage. Surviving are his wife of 55 years, Beth, and their three children, Carleton (Nancy) Watkins, Teresa (Daryl) Cash, Richard Watkins, two step-children, Douglas Burke, and Linda Smith; nine grandchildren, and six great-grand children. Also surviving is his brother, Keith Watkins. His parents, sisters, Grace Kofoed, Marilyn Gianelo, two infant sisters, Elizabeth and Betty, and a step-daughter, Kathleen Symes, preceded Jim in death. Funeral services will be held Thursday, February 4th, at 11 a.m. at the Clearfield 9th Ward Chapel, 838 East 600 South, Clearfield, Utah. Friends may call at the Lindquist’s Clearfield Mortuary, 1050 South State Street, on Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m. and Thursday at the Ward Chapel from 9:45 to 10:45 a.m. Interment, Ogden City Cemetery. “W7ZWJ signing off”.