News @ VCU School of Pharmacy

In memoriam: Earle Watkins (B.S. ’52)

Earle Bennett Watkins, who earned his B.S. degree in pharmacy from MCV School of Pharmacy in 1952, died July 22, 2009, at age 78.

Watkins, a native of South Hill, was survived by his wife, Betty; his daughters, Scotti Russell, Anne Ray and husband Ken, and Christy Holt and husband Tom; and six grandchildren. Tragically, one of his grandsons, 22-year-old Christopher Ray, was killed in a car accident Aug. 29. Ray was on the job as a Southampton County deputy sheriff, a job he had held only three months.

Russell, executive director for the Virginia Board of Pharmacy, was inspired to follow in her father’s footsteps; she graduated from the School of Pharmacy in 1977.

“He grew up in a generation where women got married, had children and either left the work force or worked part-time. He said that being a pharmacist was a good part-time job for women, though.” But Russell never had the chance to work only part-time. Laughing, she recalled her father’s reaction when she told him she was applying for a job as a Board of Pharmacy inspector, which she ended up doing for nine years.

“I’m sure most practicing pharmacists didn’t particularly like their board inspectors back then, and he couldn’t understand why anyone would want to be one … but I think he was proud of me. I certainly was proud of him.”

Watkins worked a year or two for Parker Drug Co. in Franklin, then returned home to South Hill. He owned Watkins Drug Co. there for years before selling it to Rite Aid Corp. in the late 1970s.

“The real story about Earle is that he had been in community pharmacy all his life,” said fellow MCV alumnus Mike Berryman (B.S. ’63), also of South Hill. “He called me and said, ‘I’m 55. I don’t know anything about hospital pharmacy, but … I will learn whatever you want me to know.’ “

He did everything he promised and more,” said Berryman, who at the time was director of the pharmacy at Community Memorial Healthcenter. “Not only was Earle a wonderful associate, he was a great guy. He and I got to be like brothers.”

Watkins was more than an excellent pharmacist, said Berryman. “He was a self-taught artist and did some beautiful work.” Watkins donated many pieces to annual fundraisers for the Community Memorial Healthcenter Hospice. “He raised quite a bit of money,” said Berryman. As a longtime hospice volunteer, Watkins also saw to it that patients there got the best possible care.

In addition to painting, Berryman said, Watkins was quite a woodworker. Three years after Watkins retired from the hospital pharmacy, he made a maple table and gave it to Berryman and his wife for Christmas. Along with the table was a note telling Berryman he’d never been happier at any job.

“He’s also pretty talented at writing!” Berryman said. “He was just an all-around guy … I was proud to have him as a friend, to know him and his family. … His wife and the girls are just as delightful.”

Sweethearts for nine years, Earle and his fiancée Betty married right out of college. She had attended University of Richmond’s Westhampton College while he was at MCV. “Several guys in pharmacy school married girls at Westhampton,” Russell said, chuckling. Earle, needing company or rides to the UR campus, would fix his pals up with Betty’s friends.

Earle and Betty Watkins were married for 58 years.

Unfortunately, while still employed by the hospital, Watkins became ill; he battled cancer for more than two decades. “It was fairly virulent,” said Berryman, “but he just refused to give into it.”

For the majority of that time, Russell said, her dad managed to maintain a relatively good quality of life. “He loved his family, loved the beach, loved painting [primarily watercolor], did a lot of work for the hospice.

“He was a really unique person,” she said. “They don’t make them like that anymore. … It’s amazing to me how many people reached out to us after he died. He did touch a lot of lives; he was just one of those people everyone loved because he loved them.

“That’s why he was such a good pharmacist. He was patient and loyal.”

Berryman, now retired, seconds that notion. “For most of the people I was associated with, the contributions that these folks made to society and their profession are pretty extraordinary. I guess it comes from working with people every day. …

“Anybody who knew and worked with Earle loved him.”

Watkins’ legacy was in evidence at his grandson’s funeral on Aug. 31. Anne Babb, a Southampton Academy instructor, told friends and family, “Be sure that you tell your loved ones that you love them. Christopher’s granddaddy, whom he had to say goodbye to very recently, always told him, ‘Boy, make something of yourself.’ In 22 years, he certainly did that.”

Submitted By:
Cynthia McMullen
9/14/2009