| Notes |
DNA kit: 230310
From Find-a-Grave site which published his obituary.
Bartle Funeral Home::
Watson R McFarland passed from this life on January 14, 2015 at the Casey County Hospital at the age of 81. He was born April 26, 1933 in what was known as the Wess community of Casey County Kentucky. He was a son of Sam and Mary Benton Barlow McFarland. Know as "Speed" during his youth, Watson completed the 8th grade in the two-room McFarland Shchool in 1948. He enlisted in the U. S. Air Force with his two cousins Marshall Barlow and Ralph Dean in November 1951. Watson completed a G. E. D. and the Air Force became his caareer for the next 20 years. Through the years, national cemeteries were a vivid reminder of the sacrifice so many patriots had made before him and were much of the impetus for his reenlisting so many times. While he was stationed at Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, South Carolina in 1961 Watson met Midge LaCrosse Smith who was orginally from Maine and in town to visit her childhood friend married to a fellow airman. Watson and Midge married on February 5, 1962 and had three daughters. He was deployed at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October of 1962, was evacuated with American forces from Tripoli when Khadafi overthrew King Idris I in 1969, and deployed again to Tuy Hua, South Vietnam 1969-1970. His tours of duty included Lakenheath Air Force Base in Suffolk, England; Edwards Air Force Base in California, two tours at Wheelus Air Force Base in Libya, North Africa; and England Air Force Base in Louisiana. Watson retired from military service in 1972 and brought his family home to Kentucky to help care for his widowed mother. He grew old among family and friends of his childhood. Retired from the service to his country, Watson worked at a variety of employments (Always where he could be building something) and devoted many years as a layman serving the Lord. As much as he enjoyed his family and the opportunities to be useful to folks in need, Watson found the most contentment in the solitude of his workshop building porch swings, furniture, and clocks from wood and lumber folks brought by. Watson was preceded in death by his parents, 14 siblings, Midge, his wife of 49 years. He is survived by three daughters: Tina McFarland Savelyev of Danville; Nicki McFarland Johnson (Mrs. Doug) of Liberty; and Rhonda McFarland Withers (Mrs. Edwin) of Russell Springs. He is also survived by five step-children: Skip Curtis (and Denise) of Ellsworth, Maine; Donnie (and Deanne) Smith of East Millinocket, Maine; Kathie Smith LaGrassie of Old Town, Maine; Sherry Smith Florence of Newburgh, Maine; and Randy smith of Mt. Chase, Maine. He leaves three grandchildren and two great-grandaughters who he loved deeply. He also leaves one brother Paul McFarland (and Alta) of Hustonville and one sister Ruth Wethington (Mrs Mitchell) of Indianapolis, Indiana. It was Watson's firm wish that there be no funeral service following his passing. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that expressions of sympathy take the form of extending a kindness to someone in need. His cremains will be inurned next to his wife's and among family at Peavey Cemetery in Casey Co. Kentucky.
Family links:
Parents:
Samuel David McFarland (1886 - 1965)
Mary Benton Barlow McFarland (1896 - 1981)
Spouse:
Marjorie Carolyn LaCrosse McFarland (1937 - 2010)
Siblings:
Ollie Lee McFarland Gibson (1910 - 1945)**
Verna Ethel McFarland Coffman (1914 - 1993)**
Woodrow Wesley McFarland (1917 - 1997)**
James Leo McFarland (1919 - 1991)**
Hosea McFarland (1922 - 1924)*
Martha Bell McFarland Allen (1923 - 2013)*
Nettie Lee McFarland Tapscott (1924 - 2002)*
Annie May McFarland (1927 - 1928)*
David Levi McFarland (1929 - 2001)*
Watson Ray McFarland (1933 - 2015)
Margie McFarland (1935 - 1935)*
Eugene McFarland (1936 - 1936)*
Joseph Samuel McFarland (1939 - 1940)*
*Calculated relationship
**Half-sibling
Burial:
Peavey Cemetery
Liberty
Casey County
Kentucky, USA
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1933 - 2015 (81 years)
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