MURIEL WATSON

WATSON, MURIEL Muriel Watson was born in Newton, Mass, October 23, 1930, the only child of William and Cynthia Bianchi. She grew up as a teenager with her mother in San Diego, attended San Diego High School and later earned her teaching degree at San Diego State College. A great dancer and actress, she had a flair for the theatrical, and performed to audiences many times including the esteemed stage at the Old Globe here in San Diego. She would later pass this passion along to others by teaching speech and drama, winning many awards with her students. She met and married the love of her life, George Watson in San Diego in 1953. It was then that her interest and work with the US Border Patrol began. As an agent, George's job found them moving all over the country; he would fly patrol on both the northern and southern borders (Vermont, Texas and California). They even spent time in Washington, DC, where George was pilot for the Attorney General. Muriel's first living child, Suzan, was born in San Diego in 1959; Julie was born in Vermont in 1963 and Heidi in Washington, DC in 1966. Muriel's involvement with the Border Patrol Union as Public Information Officer (PIO) included her testifying in front of Congress regarding issues and concerns and began a life time commitment of bringing issues to light: the driving force of her public life. Muriel lost her beloved George in 1981, but not her concern for the Border Patrol or other public issues. During the Iranian Hostage crisis, Muriel began the campaign "Remember the Hostages". As the crisis drew longer, the public lost focus. Muriel created and printed bumper stickers that simply stated "Remember the Hostages". With her contacts at Southland Corporations, she had them available for free to the public at 7-11 convenience stores. Tens of thousands would be distributed. Additionally, she began a bill board campaign across the United States carrying the same message. In doing so, Muriel forged a lasting friendship with Dorthea Morefield, wife of Richard, who was a hostage in Iran from San Diego. Muriel was honored to be the first to greet Dorthea and Richard on the tarmac of San Diego Airport upon Richard's safe return. Next in the list of Muriel's activism was her movement "Light Up the Border" founded in response to the violence that was occurring in the San Diego sector of the border. Still very connected with the Border Patrol Union, she found the many reports of night-time violence being perpetrated on the illegal crossers by border bandits intolerable. With a handful of brave friends, Muriel started sunset demonstrations down at Dairy Mart Rd. There the protesters would turn on their car headlights into the fields of darkness to Light Up the Border. Soon local radio host Roger Hedgecock caught wind of Muriel and her growing movement. With a few conversations on the Air to explain her concerns and announce coming demonstrations, "Light Up the Border" would peak at over 2000 cars shining their lights on the border. Her friendship and work with Congressman Duncan Hunter would result in the great accomplishment of building a fence and getting permanent lights installed. Muriel's determination to secure the border didn't slow down after this and included the very daring feat of playing cards in the medium of the 805 freeway. At that time illegal aliens crossing the border could run directly up the freeways, resulting in constant tragic deaths. The response, before Muriel's bold statement, was simply to close down lanes temporarily, then let the danger continue. However, once a citizen attempted and successfully made the mad dash across the freeway lanes only to sit in the middle un-phased by the speeding cars around her, enough attention was acquired to force change. Much to the relief of her children, the one-time demonstration resulted in the placement of fencing between the freeways, preventing hundreds of daily crossers from using the dangerous route. During this time it was not uncommon for Muriel's children to come home from school, with any number of news outlets interviewing Muriel about Light Up the Border. Though it was made controversial by the media, it was conceived with the singular goal to increase the safety for all in the border region and there is no doubt that her movement saved hundreds of lives. Muriel's citizen activism continued all her life in this manner. It included a run for State Senate seat 40th district. Though she could not spend more than a couple thousand dollars on her campaign it tickled her to no end that her opponent spent hundreds of thousands to only barely beat her for the seat. Additionally, Muriel continued many trips to Wash DC lobbying Congress for reform and daily support of the Border Patrol Union. Later as a Grandma, her final contribution to the citizens of San Diego included helping to defeat "Toilet to Tap". Teaming up with Mary Quartino, the "Revolting Grandmas" educated and lobbied the State of California on the right and wrong ways of recycling our sewage and how to safely use the resulting water. Muriel advocated the usage of such water to other areas however opposed its use in our drinking supply. It was being a Grandmother that Muriel enjoyed most. Muriel is survived by her three daughters, six grandchildren and her sister. Muriel passed after a lengthy battle with cancer on May 1, 2012, with her family around her. Services will be held at Guardian Angels Catholic Church in Santee, CA, at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 5th. The family would like to thank UCSD and the wonderful caregivers at Moores Cancer Center for the wonderful three years that they kept care of Muriel. In lew of flowers, donations can be made to Muriel's memory to "UCSD Foundation", attention Pamela Werner, 9500 Gilman Dr #0853, La Jolla CA 92093. Please note made in memory of Muriel Watson.