Norma Watson

1936 - 2022

Norma Watson
August 25, 1936 - July 27, 2022
San Francisco, California - Norma Moya Black was born on Marguerite Park off the Lisburn Road in Belfast, Northern Ireland. In her earliest memories, she recalled the 12th of July parade, during which the family put out chairs on the sidewalk to watch the marchers with their colorful banners of orange, green, and white, and pictures of William of Orange proudly displayed. The sidewalk was crowded with family, and her mom was the hostess since her dad was marching in the parade. As she was too young to know very much about the streets of Belfast, she didn't know where the parade ended, but she remembered the music: The Sash My Father Wore.
Her formal education began at Finaghy Elementary in Belfast. She remembered this as a place to which she trudged on cold, dark, Irish mornings, where the teachers were particularly strict, and where memorization of long poems was their favorite torture. And yet for the rest of her life she was able to recite these poems and more, including all 19 stanzas of The Lady of Shalott. Later at Victoria College, she was a "day girl," which meant she could go down after school and look for Americans.
After another cold, dark, rainy day in Belfast, the story goes, the family decided to set sail, emigrating to the United States on the HMS Queen Mary in 1952. Her family had wanted a better education for their children and their future families, and that dream did not disappoint. Norma graduated from high school 2 years later in Los Angeles, then proceeded to continue to watch for Americans while attending UCLA. It was there that Richard Watson, the tall, dark, handsome love of her life, approached her while she was working at the bookstore.
Norma and Richard commenced a great love affair while gradually moving northward in California, creating a beautiful family of three children, who each would go on to fulfill that promise of higher education. Ever educationally and culturally voracious, Norma continued to consume every book genre (with a special penchant for mystery), enjoyed the culture of theater together with good friends at the Best of Broadway and Ashland Shakespeare Festivals and more, and read at least two newspapers every day to fuel her deep comprehension of current events.
Norma earned her Bachelor's degree in Government in 1980 at Sacramento State University, and then in Vacaville went on to post educational work to gain her teaching credential and special education resource credential. She served many dedicated years as a respected teacher at high schools in Vacaville, where she is remembered fondly by her many colleagues, friends, and fellow volunteers at the PEO as an incomparable wit, great conversationalist, spirited storyteller of Rich and Norma's many travels, and loyal friend.
Her family will forever miss sitting down at the table and belting out old Irish songs, the spirited dinner conversations and lively household, every single time she would tell us "love you lots." Although our mortal coils feel broken, we carry the rich threads of her wonderful life like lines of poetry to the promises of unending love, where we can continue to find solace below the starry clusters bright.
She is preceded in death by her husband, Richard Edward Watson, her father Norman Mason Black and mother Sarah Ann Black, and many other beloved relations in Ireland.
She is survived by her brother Stanley and family, cousin Valerie and family, brother-in-law James, son and daughter-in-law Richard and Deborah, son Robert, daughter and daughter-in-law Moya and Leanne, four grandchildren Samantha, McKenna, William, and Lucinda, and two great granddaughters.
In lieu of flowers, Norma would favor a donation to the educational philanthropic organization P. E. O. International (https://www.peointernational.org/), or your favorite charity.