Cooper Watkins
Cooper Lee Watkins, Jr., 74, of Chattanooga, passed away on Thursday, March 31, 2022, in the Hospice Care Center.
He was a 1965 graduate of Howard High School. He retired from Combustion/Alstrom after 40 years of service. Cooper was also a member of the International Boilermaker Union and an AFL-CIO representative in the Southeast Region of the country. Cooper was a member of Nazarene Missionary Baptist Church under the Pastoral of Reverend Maurice Gilchrist and was a student of his mid-week bible teaching.
He was preceded in death by his grandparents, Judge Lyles, Lillie McGhee Lyles, and Hattie Cantrell; parents, Cooper Watkins, Sr., and Judge Ella Watkins; sister, Loellen Remson; brother, Kenneth Mayes; nephew, Gretrell Watkins, Jr.; and niece, Adrienne Watkins Thomas.
Survivors include his brothers, Jerry D. Mayes of Cleveland, OH, George (Belinda) Watkins, Sr., and Gretrell Dewayne (Cassandra) Watkins, Sr.; brother-in-law, Eugene Remson; nephews, Kenneth Phil Remson, Joshua Remson, and George Watkins, Jr.; nieces, Melissa Watkins, Seteria Watkins, and Lasunndra Treadwell; a host of loving cousins, other relatives, and friends.
Cooper will lie in state on Thursday, April 14, from 12:30-5 p.m. at Taylor Funeral Home.
Funeral services will be on Friday, April 15, at 11 a.m. in the chapel with Pastor Roger Pride as the eulogist.
Burial will be in Forest Hills Cemetery.
Special thanks to Lester Lyles, Jr. and Lem Godfather Jones for stepping up with love for their older cousin, and the younger cousins, who encircled Cooper in his last days.