Barbara Jean Watson of Fords Colony in Williamsburg, Virginia died after a lengthy journey with cancer on 12 August 2024. She was 88.

Barbara was born February 16, 1936 in Casper Wyoming, the daughter of Eldon and Margaret Schopf, the oldest of two children. In 1941 the family moved to Sheridan, Wyoming. She graduated from Sheridan High School in 1954 and from Wheaton (Illinois) College in 1958 with a degree in Economics and Business Administration where she met her future husband, Toy Watson. They married a week after her college graduation and she moved to Virginia with Toy where she lived the rest of her life loving the Virginia weather, never wanting to return to the cold and snow of Wyoming.

Early in her career Barbara worked in secretarial roles, college night school instruction and as a mother raising two children. Throughout her life, she followed real estate with avid interest, and as her children grew up, converted that passion to profession. She became a residential realtor with GSH Real Estate in 1980 and quickly became a leading agent for 18 years with a huge book of repeat business and an absolute love for the work that she said she felt born to do. She retired in early 1999 but remained an avid follower of home improvement, fix and flip and real estate TV shows until days prior to her death.

Barbara lived in Richmond, Bon Air and Seaford before buying a lot in Fords Colony in 1994 and designing a home based on the best (and avoiding the worst) of the hundreds of homes she had listed and sold.

Her later years were filled with friends, gardening, tennis, bridge, supper clubs, and numerous social activities with many circles of friends. With the diagnosis of her cancer in November 2023 the number and quality of her friendships came into focus as she and her family were supported and heartened by numerous calls, cards, visits and meals. It was clear that in life, Barbara had cultivated a garden of friends that outshone even her beloved flower gardens at her home.

She is survived by her devoted husband of 66 years, Toy Watson; a daughter Terri (Kimberly Harrison) Watson of Lander, Wyoming; a son David (Gabriela) Watson of Williamsburg; a brother Bill (Cean) Schopf of Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania; and two granddaughters--Martina Watson of Craig, Colorado and Gabika Watson of Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Barbara has requested no services, and the family will commemorate her in private. She requests no memorial gifts be made, but next time you plant or admire a flower, think of Barbara. As a family, we are grateful to have experienced the love and support of her many friends via calls, cards, visits, flowers, meals --- and to have come to know her even more through your eyes and stories. She also wanted to thank the many wonderful caretakers and staff at Patriots Colony Convalescent Center for their efforts on her behalf.

Online remembrances can be left at: obituaries.virgin acremate.com/obituaries/richmond-va/barbara-watson-11935890,

The Sheridan Press - Aug. 30, 2024.