Janet “Sue” Watkins

Janet “Sue” Watkins, 84, of Bloomington passed away Thursday, January 12, 2023 at Hearthstone Memory Care. Sue was born January 4, 1939, in Worthington, the daughter of William E. and Waneta (Faulk) Whaley.

Sue grew up near Hendricksville and was the first-born daughter amongst her siblings. Sue was instrumental in the growth and nurturing of her younger siblings. The family made many memories throughout their years and enjoy reminiscing to this day. She attended school at Solsberry and during her junior year she met Bobby Joe Watkins and they graduated in 1957 and married October 25, 1958. They settled in Bloomington to raise their family.

Sue’s working career consists of Frisch’s Big Boy, the Friendly Inn and Sarkes Tarzian. In 1963 she began her 35-year career with RCA/Thomson and Sue finished her career at Cook Medical in Bloomington for 19 years, where she retired in 2017. Sue had a very strong work ethic and she took pride in whatever duties she was tasked with. She instilled the value of hard work into her children and grandchildren.

Sue and Bobby have two daughters, Pam Langley (companion Bryan Jones) of Bloomington and Dara (Rick) Boyer of Crawfordsville, all surviving. Sue made many fond memories for her daughters growing up and always made the holidays and their birthdays extra special. Many memories were made on the weekends going camping and boating at Lake Monroe as well as yearly family vacations.

Sue was known as “Mam” to her three grandchildren, all of whom she was so proud of: Natalie (Drew) Crohn of Martinsville, Kayla (Levi) Jones of Spring Hill, Tenn. and Samantha Stinnett (fiancé Garrett Vandagrifft) of Sheridan; great-grandson, Grayson River Jones of Spring Hill, Tenn. Sue carried on the holiday tradition and always made birthdays and Christmas extra-special for her grandchildren and great-grandson.

Other survivors include her siblings, Darold (Vivian) Whaley, Bob Whaley, Joseph “Dude” Whaley, Jim (Carol) Whaley, Helen (Phil) Sims, Martha (John) Mathews, Donnie (Jeri) Whaley, Darlene (Tony) Keller and Ramona Peoples; Brother-in-law Bill (Brenda) Watkins; many nieces, nephews and cousins.

She was preceded in death by her parents; sisters, Ola Underwood and Nancy Sheets; brothers, Grover Walters, Paul Edward Whaley and William Leroy Whaley; sisters in-law, Janet Whaley and Alice Whaley.

Sue enjoyed taking car rides through the countryside with her husband and spending time with her family that she adored. She was a wonderful cook and was known for her many delicious meals she made from scratch over the years. She always enjoyed her time spent in the kitchen cooking or baking. She was an avid IU basketball fan and even took her own statistics during games. Sue would often load her family up and go to Monroe County airport and welcome the IU ball players back home from away games. She was known to be a ‘spitfire’ over the years and would “tell it like it is.”

Sue was a kindhearted person and would do anything to help others. Over the years she devoted her time and volunteered for events such as “Clothe-A-Child” and donated funds for pre-paid phone cards for deployed troops. Sue was on a bowling league for many years and she made many trips to the Grand Ole Opry in Tennessee with her family to listen to that “good ol’ country music.”

The family would like to extend their heartfelt thanks to the staff and caring nursing aides at Cedar Hurst and most recently Hearthstone Memory Care for helping to take care of their wife, mom and Mam the last several months. Also, a heartfelt thank you to all the staff of IU Health Hospice. The compassion shown by all towards Sue was evident in their interactions and care.

Visitation will be on Saturday, January 21, 2023 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. at Allen Funeral Home, 4155 South Old State Road 37 in Bloomington. Funeral service will be at 2 p.m. with Glenn Kirk officiating. Burial will follow at Greene County Chapel Cemetery.

Online condolences, photos and memories may be shared with family and friends at www.allencares.com

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to IU Health Hospice in Sue’s memory.