Elton "Earl" Watson

December 8, 1924 - February 16, 2016

Elton “Earl” Watson, 91, passed away surrounded by his family on February 16, 2016, at Winston Medical Center in Louisville, Mississippi. Visitation will be Saturday, February 20, 2016, from 12 p.m. until 2 p.m. at Nowell-Massey Funeral Home in Louisville. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, February 20, 2016, in the Nowell-Massey Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Leslie “Bo” Mills officiating. Interment will follow in Memorial Park Cemetery. Mr. Watson was born on December 8, 1924, in Malvern, Arkansas, to Benjamin Elton Watson and Zelma Lee Jones Watson. He was a 1942 graduate of Greenwood High School in Greenwood, Mississippi. After graduation, he joined the United States Army to serve his country in World War II. As a sound ranger observer in the Army, he was involved in battles and campaigns in New Guinea and Luzon in the Pacific theater of operations. He was awarded numerous medals for his military service, including the Purple Heart. Upon being honorably discharged from the Army in 1946, he joined his father in the hickory mill business at B.E. Watson and Sons. He devoted his career to the family business, growing the company known as Louisville Hickory, Inc. alongside his two sons and manufacturing products as diverse as furniture components, Red Ryder gun stocks, and wooden skis worn during the 1956 winter Olympics. Mr. Watson was a member of the First Baptist Church of Louisville. Mr. Watson was preceded in death by his wife of 66 years, Peggy Rose Peterson Watson; his son, Elton Earl Watson, Jr.; his parents; his sister, Gladys Watson McCorkle; and his brother, Jack William Watson. Left to mourn his passing are his son, David Watson of Louisville; his daughter, Janet Collins and husband, Ron, of Madison, Mississippi; daughter-in-law, Lisa Blalock Watson of Louisville; his five grandchildren: Phillip Watson of Oak Harbor, Washington; Laura Watson Kujawa and husband, Kevin, of Chicago, Illinois; Katie Watson Butts and husband, Will, of Alexandria, Virginia; Maggie Watson Reed and husband, Austin, of Louisville; and Maddie Rose Collins of Madison, Mississippi; and his sister-in-law, Katherine Turner Watson of Mobile, Alabama. Serving as pallbearers are David Herrington, Kevin Kujawa, Pete Mills, Austin Reed, Pete Stribling, and Mike Tyson. Services are under the direction of Nowell-Massey Funeral Home, 724 North Columbus Avenue, Louisville, MS. Memories and condolences may be shared with the family by signing the guest register at www.nowellmasseyfuneralhome.com.