Her daughter, Beth, who lived with her for years in their Briny mobile home, gave her mother the ultimate compliment, calling her “one of those fun moms” who could turn everyday doldrums into something happy and memorable.
“She was just a wonderful mother,” she said.
A native of Kalamazoo, Mich., Mrs. Wattles never abandoned her love for her home state, spending summers in Michigan with the northern contingent of the Wattles family and winters in Briny Breezes. Beth Wattles said her mother had stayed behind this year, in failing health.
“She died in my arms right here in Briny,” said her daughter.
Clever and creative, Mrs. Wattles was an interior designer who loved art. An avid painter, she was also president of the Briny Hobby Club for many years.
Beth Wattles laughed when she remembered Christmases while growing up. “We’d come home from school one day, and the whole house would be transformed,” she said.
Mrs. Wattles found Briny after her husband died and a son-in-law’s grandfather suggested this special place in Florida. Beth Wattles was living in the Virgin Islands at the time, but mother and daughter wanted some place to live together in the states, Beth Wattles said. It was the perfect match.
Besides her daughter, Beth, survivors include three other daughters, Lucy, who lives in Kentucky; and Kay and Suzie, who live in Michigan. Six grandchildren and one great-grandchild also survive her.
A funeral service was held in June at St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church, but there will be a memorial service this fall or winter when Briny begins to fill up again, Beth said. That date has not been set. But she knows residents and friends will want to remember her mother.
“She was a major beach bum,” Beth said. “She walked to the Intracoastal every day and everybody remembers my mother for her pretty smile.
“She was a happy gal.”
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