Darrell Von Watson
Darrell Von Watson, 89, of Eagle, Idaho, was born December 21, 1934 in Vernon, Texas. He was the son of the late Edith (Nelms) Watson and Cecil Oliver Watson. Darrell married his loving wife, Lana, on November 27, 1965 in Pittsburg, Kansas. Darrell passed away on July 7, 2024.
The first nine years of Darrell’s life included seven family moves looking for work to endure and survive the Great Depression and Dust Bowl. Grand Falls was a favorite location where he enjoyed fishing on the Pecos River. He attended Grand Falls-Royalty High School and played on the GFHS Cowboys football team.
Immediately after graduating from high school, Darrell joined the United State Army and proudly served his country as the Korean War was ending. Following boot camp he flew to Rhein-Main Air Base in Frankfurt, Germany where he was a gun mechanic and technician on the 75mm “Skysweeper.” From Frankfurt, he moved to an army base on the Rhein River in Wiesbaden-Biebrich, Germany, where he served as a WWII Occupation German Forces soldier.
After Darrell’s tour of duty ended, he returned to Texas and worked for two years at Phillips 66 refinery and attended night classes at Odessa College. In the fall of 1958 he utilized his Korean GI benefits and enrolled at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, with plans to earn an engineering degree. One of his roommates at Tech was a football player, and with Darrell’s love of sports, he decided to try out and earned a walk-on position with the Red Raiders. An unforeseen medical condition forced him to stop playing football, but fortunately, he had met the Tech basketball coaches who offered him a full scholarship to be their team manager. He enjoyed watching and helping from the bench as Tech won two Southwest Conference Championships and made the NCAA tournament two years in a row.
Darrell graduated from Texas Tech in 1962, and moved to Colorado Springs for a job with Texaco, Inc. He met the love of his life, Lana Farabi, at an outdoor ice skating rink in downtown Denver. They married in 1965 and enjoyed an adventurous life with Texaco that included Pueblo and Durango, Colorado; Salt Lake City, Utah; Casper, Wyoming; Mission Viejo, CA; and Bellevue, Washington. Their daughter, Kristin, was born in 1972 in Salt Lake City, and their son, Brad, was born in 1975 in Casper. Darrell was the Seattle Region Manager in Construction and Environmental Engineering for Texaco prior to retiring after 34 years.
Darrell’s daughter, Kristin, was the first Head Swimming and Diving coach at Boise State University, where she led the team for nine years. Darrell’s son, Brad, is the President and CEO of PMP Management based out of southern California. Darrell and Lana moved to Eagle, Idaho in 2010 to spend more time with their grandchildren, Luke and Julia. Darrell loved watching Luke and Julia grow up, and he attended as many of their activities as he could. Luke and Julia will miss their grandpa dearly.
Darrell was a devoted husband, father and grandfather who enjoyed golfing, reading many books, “surfing” on the computer, and studying World and American History. Survivors include his wife of 59 years, Lana Watson; daughter and son-in-law, Kristin and Jason Hill of Boise, ID; son, Brad Watson of Los Angeles, CA; sister Marguerite Anne Sumner of Katy, TX; grandchildren Luke and Julia Hill; brother-in-law Stephen Farabi and wife Janell of Daphne, AL; brother-in-law Terry Farabi and wife Becky of Bonner Springs, KS; and numerous nieces, nephews, and close friends.
Graveside services for Mr. Darrell Watson will be held at 10:00am on August 6, 2024 at the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery. Friends and family are invited to attend a celebration of life gathering at Darrell and Lana’s home following the service.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to Darrell’s favorite charity, the Gary Sinise Foundation: https://www.garysinisefoundation.org/
Arrangements are under the direction of Bowman Funeral Parlor of Garden City.