Reflections
To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven; a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted. Ecclesiastes 3:1-2

A Time To Be Born
Lois Delcine Washington Watkins was born November 3, 1938 in Reidsville, NC to the late Caroline Isabella and Edgar Washington. She was the eldest of four children and attended the local public schools, graduating in the 1956 class of Booker T. Washington High School. Lois was a member of Zion Baptist Church.

A Time to Live
Following graduation, Lois moved to Brooklyn, NY and married her husband of forty-nine years, Berry E. Watkins, Sr. of Athens, Georgia in 1957. Over the next fourteen years, Lois continued her education at Long Island University and American Academy of Funeral Directing, becoming a licensed Funeral Director/Embalmer in New York and Pennsylvania. In New York, Lois was a member of the St. Anthony Baptist Church. In 1970, Lois and her family moved to New Castle, Pennsylvania, where they expanded the family funeral business for ten years before returning back to Brooklyn, continuing the family business until 2009.

A Time to Die
The "time" as revealed by the wisdom of Solomon was realized on January 2, 2016 when our beloved Lois exchanged life on earth for one of eternal rest and peace.

She leaves to cherish her memories: her children, Berry E. Watkins, Jr. (Kim) of Laurel, Maryland; Wayne E. Watkins of Brooklyn, NY; and Bruce E. Watkins (Charmaine) of Franklin Park, NJ; her siblings, William E. Washington (Rose) and Wallace E. Washington (Lois), both of Brooklyn, NY; and Col (Ret.) LaDonna Washington Howell (Lt. Col (Ret.) Ravin Howell) of Olney, MD; an aunt, Evangelist Lillie Haley Hayes of Beaver Falls, PA; two grandsons, Eric Watkins and Jeremiah Watkins; four nephews: William Washington, Jr., Wallace Washington, Jr,. Christopher Washington, Jarred Howell, and one niece, Anessa Howell; special cousin Mark Luck (Brenda) of North Babylon, NY; special friends: Francis Macklin, Bessie Cobb, Thelma Crawford, Maxine Thomas, all of Reidsville, NC, and Ernestine Speller of Brooklyn, NY; goddaughter Lorena Stewart Bryant; and many other relatives and friends.


Funeral services will be 11:00 A.M. Saturday, January 9, 2016 at Zion Baptist Church, 807 Piedmont St., Reidsville, NC., with burial following in the Greenview Cemetery. There will be a wake on Friday, January 8, 2016 from 6:00 P.M.-7:00 P.M. at McLaurin Funeral Home Memorial Chapel. Public viewing Friday 1:00 P.M.-6:00 P.M.