Harriet L. Watkins

Harriet Ranney Watkins passed away on March 9, 2012 at the age of 94. She was predeceased by her mother Florence Edith Ranney, her father Frank Ranney, her husband James Ward Watkins, and her brother J. Austin Ranney.

She is survived by her daughter Jan McCall of Greeley, Colorado, her son Jeff G.F. Watkins of Santa Fe, New Mexico, her granddaughters Meghan McCall of Dallas, Texas, and Samantha McCall of Las Vegas, Nevada, and her sister-in-law, Nancy Ranney of Berkeley, California.

Harriet was born on March 19, 1917 in Cortland, New York. In 1928, Harriet’s family relocated to Corona, California where she graduated from Corona High School in 1934. She graduated from Stanford University in 1938. She worked for several years as a secretary for the Eddie Cantor Show in Hollywood, California. She married Ward Watkins of Model, Colorado on December 20, 1946, and lived in Colorado’s Arkansas Valley for the remainder of her life. She taught school in Cheraw, was employed from 1961 to 1979 as a case worker with Otero County Social Services, was active in a number of bridge clubs, and the Arkansas Valley Regional Medical Center’s Gift Shop and the Auxiliary crafts program. During the last years of her life, Harriet resided at Evergreen Gardens Assisted Living facility in La Junta.

Those wishing to do so my make memorial contributions to the Arkansas Valley Regional Medical Center Auxiliary, 1100 Carson Avenue, La Junta, CO, 81050 direct or through the funeral home.

Peacock-Larsen Funeral Home & Arkansas Valley Crematory is in charge of arrangements.


A memorial service will be Monday, April 23, 2012, at 2:00 p.m. at Peacock Memorial Chapel.