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Columbia......Emory Olin ?Buddy? Watson. Sr., age 83, of Brandywine Lane, died Saturday, October 6, 2007 at Life Care Center of Columbia. Mr. Watson was born March 31, 1924 in Washington, DC, a son of the late Maxcy Pierce Watson, Sr. and Grace Haselden Watson. When he was a young child, his family moved back to the Conway area. He graduated from Conway High School where he was a star athlete in several sports. In 1941, he was the first football player from Horry County chosen for the NC-SC Shrine Bowl. Mr. Watson served his country in the US Rangers during World War II where he was captured at Anzio Beach Head in Italy and was a prisoner of war in Germany for sixteen months. He was awarded the Good Conduct Medal, Three Bronze Stars and Purple Heart. Mr. Watson also served his local communities in many ways. He was a member of the Kiwanis Club in Conway and Myrtle Beach. He was a coach and leader of the Myrtle Beach Dixie Youth Baseball League and a member of the Myrtle Beach High School Booster Club. Mr. Watson and his family were members of the First United Methodist Church in Myrtle Beach and he and his wife were charter members of the Ashe County Presbyterian Church in Jefferson, North Carolina. He retired in 1979 from the banking industry where he started his career with Peoples National Bank in Myrtle Beach. After his retirement, he and his wife spent their years between their homes in Myrtle Beach and the mountains of North Carolina. In 2003, they moved to Columbia, S.C. where they have lived since. He was predeceased by one brother, Maxcy Pierce Watson, Jr. and one sister, Imogene Watson Williams. Surviving are his wife of 64 years, Patricia ?Patsy? Scoggin Watson of Columbia, three sons, Emory Olin Watson, Jr. and his wife, Frankie Rhodes Watson, Patrick Earl Watson and his wife, Kathryn Watson and Thomas Mitchell Watson and his wife, Donna Sheheen Watson all of Columbia, one daughter, Mary Allen Watson and her partner, Nancy Gunn of Westfield, MA, thirteen grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, four brothers, William Lawton Watson and his wife, Virginia and Arthur Pinckney Watson all of Conway, Marion Edward Watson and his wife, Carolyn of Columbus, MS, and George Elliott Watson of High Point, NC, and one sister, Sally Watson Woody of Conway. The family would like to thank Life Care Center of Columbia for their dedication in providing loving care to our ?Buddy?/Granddaddy. Graveside services will be held at 2:00 PM Tuesday at Hillcrest Cemetery with Rev. Randy Riddle and Rev. Olin McBride officiating. The family will receive friends from 12:00 until 1:30 PM Tuesday at Goldfinch Funeral Home, Conway Chapel. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to St. Jude?s Children?s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105 or The Samaritans Purse, 801 Bamboo Road, Boone, NC 28607.

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Emory Olin Watson, Sr.

October 6, 2007