CORA LOUISE WATKINS

CORA LOUISE POOLE WATKINS WAS BORN ON JUNE 17, 1935 IN LA GRANGE, TEXAS TO IRA POOLE SR AND ANNIE LEE SCOTT POOLE. CORA WAS THE YOUNGEST OF FOUR CHILDREN BORN TO THE COUPLE. LATER, MR AND MRS POOLE ADOPTED ONE OF THEIR GRANDCHILDREN, ROBERT POOLE JR TO MAKE FIVE CHILDREN IN THEIR IMMEDIATE FAMILY. CORA WAS THE ONLY GIRL AND SO IT WAS APPROPRIATE THAT HER FAMILY NICKNAME WAS "SISTER".

AFTER GRADUATING HIGH SCHOOL IN LA GRANGE, TEXAS, CORA MET THE LOVE OF HER LIFE, JOE WATKINS WHO GREW UP IN THE NEIGHBORING TOWN OF WINCHESTER, TEXAS. THEY MARRIED SEPTEMBER 6. 1953 AND WERE BLESSED WITH 45 YEARS OF MARRIAGE BEFORE JOE'S PASSING IN 1998. THEIR UNION WAS BLESSED WITH THREE CHILDREN, FIVE GRANDCHILDREN AND THREE GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN. EARLY IN THEIR MARRIAGE,

CORA WORKED FOR A TIME AT BEXAR COUNTY COURTHOUSE AS A CLERK, WHERE SHE WAS RECOGNIZED FOR THE SPIRIT OF EXCELLENCE WITH WHICH SHE PERFORMED HER DUTIES. HOWEVER, CORA WAS SOON TO REALIZE THAT SHE WAS CALLED TO SERVE THE LORD AS WIFE AND MOTHER–WHICH WAS THE POSITION WHERE SHE FOUND THE GREATEST AMOUNT OF JOY AND REWARD. IN FACT, CORA WAS NOT ONLY MOTHER TO HER THREE CHILDREN BUT ALSO PROVIDED THE MOST LOVING CHILDCARE TO HER FIVE GRANDCHILDREN WHO KNEW HER AS NANA. AMONG CORA'S MANY GOD-GIVEN TALENTS AND INTERSTS WERE COOKING, DECORATING, PLAYING PIANO, SINGING AND WATCHING SPORTS.

CORA CAME TO KNOW THE LORD AT AN EARLY AGE AND SHE LEAVES THE LEGACY OF SALVATION TO HER FAMILY AS SHE SERVED THE LORD AS A GOD-FEARING WIFE AND MOTHER. CORA IS SURVIVED BY HER THREE CHILDREN: JO MARSHALL, MIJIZA MAKEDA AND DERWIN WATKINS SR…FIVE GRANDCHILDREN: AISHA MARSHALL, SEIFU BEKELE, DERWIN WATKINS JR (AND HIS WIFE, DEBBIE WATKINS), EBONI WATKINS AND RALPH JOSEPH WATKINS…THREE GREAT GRANDCHILDREN: KENYAN WATKINS, TYSON WATKINS AND JADA WATKINS…AN OLDER BROTHER: IRA POOLE JR AND A HOST OF NIECES, NEPHEWS AND EXTENDED FAMILY