Betty Alexander Watson

Betty Alexander Watson died March 6, 2024, in her home in Lawrence, Kansas.

            Born on June 4, 1936, in Mill Springs, Kentucky, she was the oldest child of Stella Coffey Alexander and Clarence William Alexander.  She attended rural schools in Wayne County, Kentucky and graduated early, at the age of 15. Betty’s strong will and independence were on full display when she enrolled in nursing school at the age of 16, pursuing her coursework first at Murray State College, then Jennie Stuart Hospital in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. She earned her R.N. degree in 1956 at the age of 19 and was the youngest person in Kentucky to pass the state nursing boards. Because she was so young, it required an act of the Kentucky legislature to certify her for practice. Her first job was at Jennie Stuart Hospital where she worked as an OB nurse.

            Life took Betty to Illinois, to California, to North Carolina, then eventually to California again. In the 1960s she worked in the emergency department of a hospital located in the Haight Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco. Betty helped more than one flower child survive a bad trip.

Betty eventually moved to southern California and trained as a psychiatric nurse. Working as a psychiatric nurse in Tustin, she formed two important relationships. First, she met her dear friend, Jackie Pierson, who was also a nurse. And she met her future husband, Dr. Donald Watson, who was completing his residency in psychiatry. Betty and Don married on May 30, 1976 at the Chapel in the Pines, in Carmel, California. Carmel was a favorite destination for Betty and Don, who loved to travel, and spent many happy days on the road.

            Upon her marriage, Betty became step-mother to Don’s three children, Heather, Scott and Debra, and eventually grandmother to Amanda, Tyler, Michelle and Ben. Betty brought the same commitment and energy to her chlldren and grandchildren that she brought to her career. To the delight of her husband, children and grandchildren, cooking was Betty’s love language. Every year for Don’s birthday she miraculously produced a Lady Baltimore cake (a feat of baking not for the faint-hearted). She could whip up a chocolate mousse at the drop of a hat. When living in southern California, she made lemon pies from lemons that grew on a tree in her backyard. Other family favorites included her smoked salmon and cream cheese dip, buttermilk coffee cake, chicken fried steak, eggs benedict, spiced peaches, minestrone, and split pea soup. She spoiled Don horribly. When he was in the hospital, he would not eat the hospital food, and insisted on “Betty food.”

            In addition to her fabulous meals, Betty showed her love for her family by being ready for  emergencies. She didn’t go anywhere without band-aids, Motrin, safety pins, a needle and thread, and medicine for both diarrhea and constipation.

            Perhaps because her childhood was abbreviated, Betty loved receiving stuffed animals for her birthday and Christmas. She also loved yellow roses, vodka martinis, Pall Mall Blue 100’s, diet Pepsi and romance novels.

            Betty was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Don, and her son Scott. She is survived by her sister, Helen Reid (Clayton) of Warrior, Alabama, her brother, Harry Alexander (Nancy) of Hodgenville, Kentucky, her half-sister Threca (Bill) Brown of Franklin, Indiana, her step-daughter, Heather Sliffe of Portland, Oregon, her step-daughter, Debra Wilson of Lawrence, Kansas, her grandchildren, Amanda Sliffe, Tyler Sliffe, Michelle Wilson, Ben Wilson and four great grandchildren, Joell, Jessiah, Zylah and Zyanah Wilson.

            In accordance with Betty’s wishes, no services are planned.