Audrey Marcia Watzke was born on December 11, 1921 in Ten Mile, which is 10 miles from Madisonville, Texas. She was 90 years old. Her parents were Andrew Walker Bledsoe and Ida Venable Bledsoe. Marcia died on November 28, 2012, surrounded by her loving and dedicated family.

She grew up on a farm near Madisonville and had fond memories of raising cattle and growing crops. She enjoyed the syrup her dad made at his mill from the sugar cane they grew. She remembers sitting around the fire with her 10 siblings eating sugar cane, parching peanuts and making peanut candy. Her large family was also talented in music. Her dad and brothers played the fiddle, guitar, piano, organ and other instruments that produced some toe-tapping music as Marcia sang. Marcia grew up in a loving Christian home and accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior when she was 12 years old. This has brought comfort and peace to her throughout the years.


Marcia graduated from Normangee High School in 1939. She moved to Tyler, Texas, to work as a seamstress in the Sledge Manufacturing Company assembly line making blue jeans. When the plant closed, she worked for an orthodontist in Tyler, until her cousin told her of a position available at the Dow Chemical Company. Marcia moved to Freeport in 1943 and began working in the business office at the Dow Hospital. While in Freeport, she met Don Watzke when he returned to Dow after his service in the Navy. They were married in 1949 and had a wonderful life together for over 60 years before Don's death in 2009.


Don and Marcia joined the First Presbyterian Church in Lake Jackson in 1952. They dearly loved their church and especially their special friends in their Sunday School class.


Marcia resigned from Dow Chemical Co. in 1951 to raise their family. She was very proud of her son, Tony Watzke and twin daughters, Donna Boston and Diana Kidd. Marcia enjoyed cooking and sewing. She made the girls' schools clothes and many outfits for their baby dolls and Barbie dolls. She was a member of the Community Hospital Ladies Auxiliary. She used her sewing skills to make stuffed animals and "dammit dolls" to be sold at the hospital gift shop. Marcia earned over 2000 volunteer hours sewing for the gift shop. Her pride and joy were her three granddaughters. When they walked through the front door, nothing else mattered. For years her family enjoyed the Sunday evening meals she cooked for them as they all prepared for the busy week ahead. Marcia was a very special wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend. We will miss her friendly smile and sweet disposition. The family would like to thank Oak Village Healthcare for their love and care for Marcia over these past 21⁄2 years and to Hospice Care Team who took excellent care of Marcia in her final days.


Marcia was preceded in death by her husband, Don Watzke; sisters, Thelma Mitchell and Jessie Bledsoe; and five brothers, Theodore Bledsoe, Gary Bledsoe, Dale Bledsoe, Tracy Bledsoe, and Billy Joe Bledsoe.


Marcia is survived by her three children, Tony Watzke (Beverly) from Marietta, Georgia, Diana Kidd (Greg), and Donna Boston, of Lake Jackson; three grandchildren, Megan Smith (Charles), Denae Boston and Darcy Boston; one loving sister, Opal Walker, of Lake Jackson; two brothers, Bracy Bledsoe, of Brenham and Jerry Bledsoe (Faye), of Nederland; and many loving nieces and nephews.


The family will receive friends from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m., Thursday, at Lakewood Funeral Home. Funeral services will be 3 p.m., Friday, November 30, 2012, at the First Presbyterian Church with the Rev. Alan Trafford officiating. The family requests in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the First Presbyterian Church, 102 Yaupon, Lake Jackson, or a charity of your choice.

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