Richard Ivan (Dick) Watkins February 19, 1937 ~ January 3, 2023

Richard Ivan (Dick) Watkins graduated from this life on January 3, 2023 after a short battle with cancer.
He was the first of five children (followed by Bertha, Clyde, Marilyn, and Caroline) born to Ivan Rogers and Irene Harvey Watkins in Blanding, UT on February 19, 1937.
He grew up in Blanding helping his dad on the farm, driving tractor, getting into mischief, and learning the value of hard work while going to school. He graduated from San Juan High School in 1955.
He went to work as a seasonal for the Forest Service after high school, and was then called to serve an LDS mission in the New England States from 1957 to 1959.
He was well prepared, thanks to the teachings of some of his coworkers on the Forest Service crew, who had also served missions.
On his return home, he went to California to live and work with his uncle, John Harvey, until he was drafted into the United States Army in 1960.
He trained as a radio repairman and was sent to Germany to serve with a tank battalion until his discharge in 1962.
While Dick was in the service, he started writing to his sister Bertha’s friend, Marieann Martineau, who was getting ready to serve an LDS mission in Texas.
He wrote faithfully while she served her two-year mission, and when she was released in October of 1963, he went to meet her in Mesa, AZ. They were engaged in November, and married in the Mesa, Arizona temple on February 12, 1964.
Dick and Marie lived in Blanding, where he was employed by the Utah Department of Transportation.
He was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, serving in many callings, enjoying his callings as a scout leader and primary teacher the most.
After retiring from UDOT, Dick and Marie fulfilled a life-long dream and served an LDS  mission together in Denver, Colorado, where they microfilmed court documents.
They returned home and were called to serve as temple workers in the Monticello LDS Temple. 
Dick is survived by his six children, Amy Kensley of Monument Valley UT, Lloyd (Janette) of Newcastle WY, Harley (Amy) of Morgan UT, Lois (Shane) Walker of Lahaina, HI, Jan (Gary) Podris of Stansbury Park UT, and Ivy (Jared “Zeek”) Kropf of Green River, WY.
He is preceded in death by his parents, his siblings, and his wife Marie.
Funeral services will be held at the Blanding North Chapel on January 9, 2023 at Noon. A viewing will take place from 9 to 11:30 a.m.
The family is very, very grateful to Danny Palmer, Sheila Knight – who loved and served Dick as his hospice nurse – the Zion’s Way hospice team, the Blanding Eighth Ward, neighbors Mike and Stacy Hannas and Ron and Katie Kirk, and especially Roy and Mary Cokenour and Guy and Fila Harris, who took pity on him and brought him meals so he wouldn’t have to cook!