Patricia Ann Watts Granberry

Patricia Ann Watts Granberry passed away peacefully on Sunday, April 18, 2021, at Claridge Court in Prairie Village, Kansas. Mom was born on April 27, 1929, in Greenville, Mississippi, to Richard Lewis Watts and Lora Coombe Watts. She grew up in West Point, Mississippi and excelled academically, graduating from high school at age 16. She then attended Mississippi State University where she was a cheerleader, a member of Zeta Tau Alpha sorority, and active in numerous campus activities. She graduated from college as a Pre-Med student with a degree in science and then completed studies at Baptist Hospital in New Orleans to become a Medical Technologist.

During her junior year in college, she met our Dad, George S. Granberry, Jr., and it was love at first sight. Mom and Dad were married on June 22, 1950, on a sweltering day in West Point, Mississippi, in the Methodist Church with no air conditioning. It was so hot the candles kept melting and falling out of the candleholders. They finally blew the candles out to prevent a fire in the church.

Mom was a loving and dedicated mother to her three children and skillfully managed things on the home front with Dad’s extensive business travel requirements. Dad’s business promotions usually required a relocation and our family met wonderful people in the cities to which we moved: Memphis, TN, Kansas City, the Chicago area, and Rochester, NY. Mom and Dad chose to return to Kansas City in 1984 for retirement.

Mom was always involved in our activities: Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, and church youth group activities. She loved to camp and canoe with the family and loved the international travel opportunities with Dad for his job. Mom also encouraged the three of us to perform at a high academic level, to graduate from college and to develop a strong work ethic that led us to successful adult lives. Family was the most important thing in Mom’s life.
Mom was an accomplished pianist, an enthusiastic golfer and bridge player, a past President of Leawood Women’s Club, a long-time member of P.E.O., and a member of Second Presbyterian Church. She served as a deacon and elder in the Presbyterian Church USA. She loved to cook and dessert was always a priority with her southern sweet tooth. We often laughed at her frequent offer of “a taste of something sweet” after dinner.

Mom was preceded in death by her beloved husband, George, and her parents. She is survived by her three children: Ann (Mark) Renard, Green Bay, WI; Margaret “Peg” (David) Livingood, Lawrence, KS; and Rev. George S. (Vicki) Granberry III, Rossville, GA. She is further survived by her six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

We would like to thank the staff at the Claridge Court Health Center for the love, support, and compassionate care they provided for our mother. Your many kindnesses will never be forgotten. Thank you to Kansas City Hospice for your care in her final days.

Due to restrictions of Covid-19, a private service will be held, with later burial next to Dad in Grenada, Mississippi.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions to: Second Presbyterian Church, 318 E. 55th Street, Kansas City, MO 64113 or may be sent in care of Warren-McElwain Mortuary, 120 W. 13th Street, Lawrence, Kansas 66044