Ilene Lela Watts Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

Born January 5, I921 in the small farming community of Rainier, Washington, Ilene was the forth and youngest daughter of Chancellor Henry Schroeder and Lela Avis Pollan. She married John J. Lund of Olympia, Washington on February 1, 1938. Their only child John Lewis Lund was born on Ilene's twentieth birthday January 5,1941. Mother and son were able to share the last forty years of birthdays together. In 1968 a traffic accident took the life of her husband after thirty years of marriage. Ilene worked for twenty-eight years for the Pacific Telephone Company and advanced to become the Executive Secretary to the Vice-President of PT&T. Because of her outstanding performance she was selected "'Woman of the Year" by the Business and Professional Women Foundation and honored in Honolulu, Hawaii. On Valentine's Day, February 14, 1977, she married US Navy Commander James W. Watts and moved to California. They were married for thirty-nine years before he passed away on July 20, 2016. Ilene retired from PT&T and qualified to become a Deputy Sheriff in San Diego, California for ten years. She was known as "a Pistol Packing Mama" and a noted marksperson. Ilene was a gifted artist and created her own line of greeting cards. She was talented as a stained-glass window maker. At 90 years of age she and her husband established a "Meals for Seniors" program. As an active member of the Lion's Club for twenty years she was involved in multiple community service projects and could be seen every Friday and Saturday nights playing Bingo at Rockaway Beach, Oregon. She was a fierce competitor playing scrabble or pinochle. Hours before her passing she won at both scrabble and pinochle. Ilene at 95 years of age is survived by her son, John Lewis Lund of Murray, Utah and his wife Bonnie Jeanne Lund, seven grandchildren, twenty-three great-grandchildren, and two great-great grandchildren, and three step-daughters. She died without suffering after a pleasant visit with her son and daughter-in-law on October 28,2016. She was laid to rest in the Midway, Utah cemetery on November 19,2016.

Ilene Lela Watts

January 5, 1921 - October 28, 2016