Frederick "Rick" Watts

1922 - 2015

Frederick "Rick" Watts passed away Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015. Funeral: Noon Monday, Nov. 30, at Wade Family Funeral Home, 4140 W. Pioneer Parkway, Arlington. Graveside service: will follow in Moore Memorial Gardens. Bob Gartman will officiate. Visitation: 5 to 7 p.m. Sunday at Wade Family Funeral Home. Rick was born July 26, 1922, at Richmond Plantation near Hammond, La., to the Rev. Willis Frederick Watts and Bertha Irene Erwin Watts. Rick served as a chief communications technician in the United States Navy during World War II, volunteering the day after the Pearl Harbor attack. After the war, he attended Southeastern Louisiana State University and earned degrees in physics and mechanical engineering. Rick's 40-plus-year career saw him working in aerospace, space flight, and on numerous research and design projects for many notable companies, such as LTV, Boeing, and Rockwell International. Rick never truly retired. Later in life he became an expert in the field of genealogy, and published several authoritative books. He remained active until the very end. Rick will be remembered by everyone as a brilliant and funny man, a loving father and doting grandfather, and a person who never stopped exploring, pursuing knowledge, and learning new skills. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Patricia Sue Watts, in 2014; and their daughter, Marilyn Sue Watts, in 2007. He was also preceded in death by his second wife, Nellie Dawn Swaim Watts, in 1983; and his grandson, Jason Butler, in 2007. Survivors: Sister, Maxine Morgan; son, Frederick Lee Watts Jr. and wife, Bernadette; daughter, Patricia Gail Watts Stevens and husband, Grant; stepson, Donald Swaim and wife, Bobbie; stepson, John Swaim and wife, Christine Jenny; stepdaughter, Teresa Gibson and husband, Glen; grandchildren, Rebecca and husband, Will, Jenny and her husband, Matt, Collin, Brian, Mary and Clara; numerous great-grandchildren from both marriages; and countless other family members, friends and admirers.