Madeline Ward Watkins Obituary (1933 - 2017)

LAWSONVILLE - Madeline Ward Watkins, 84, passed away, Friday, August 18, 2017, at LifeBrite Community Hospital of Stokes. The funeral service will be held at 5 p.m., Sunday, August 20, 2017, at Delta United Methodist Church. The family will receive friends from 3 to 5 p.m., prior to the service. Interment will follow in the Ward Family Cemetery. Following the committal, the family will also receive friends in the church fellowship hall. Madeline was born May 2, 1933, in Stokes County, to the late Rev. Samuel Russell Ward and the late Julie Ann Lemons Ward. She was a member of Delta United Methodist Church where she served as a Sunday School teacher for more than 50 years, was a member of the Delta United Women, the church choir, and the church quartet for many years and held various other positions in the church. She was also a member of the Lawsonville ECA, the Lawsonville Ladies Auxiliary, the Stokes County ACTS, and chairman of the Lawsonville Community Building committee and served the community in various other ways. She also provided at-home child care for many years. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, James Cecil Watkins; brothers, Andrew and Avery Ward; and sisters, Louise Dodson and Gracie Steele. Survivors include a son, Darian Watkins; daughters, Deborah Bingman, Dorinda Bray (Mark), and Diane Watkins; grandchildren, Christy Dancy, Chad Holt, Chalei Ferguson, Zac, Drew, and John Bray, Staci McMillian-Smith, and Kody Myers; great-grandchildren, Tucker, Autumn, Halle, Ryleigh, Raelynn, Tristyn, Hollis, Bailey, Eliza, Copelyn, Kayla, and Elijah; several special nieces and nephews. Memorials may be made to the Ward Cemetery Fund, C/o Darian Watkins, 1120 Watkins Rd, Lawsonville, NC or to Delta United Methodist Church, 5993 NC 704 Hwy E, Sandy Ridge, NC 27046. Colonial Funeral Home Stokes Chapel in Sandy Ridge is serving the family.