Daisy Tanner Watkins

Mrs. Daisy Tanner Watkins, 84, of 304 Meadowood Circle, Kannapolis, died at her residence. Thursday, March 9, 2006. Funeral services will be conducted at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 12, 2006, at Calvary Baptist Church. The Rev. Tom Tucker will officiate. Interment will follow at Carolina Memorial Park. The body will be taken to the church 30 minutes prior to the service. The family will receive friends from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday, March 11, 2006, at Lady's Funeral Home. At other times they will be at the residence. Born June 27, 1921 in Jackson County, Georgia, she was a daughter of the late Henry Tanner and Lona Thomas Tanner. She worked in the Set Department and other areas of Cannon Mills from 1939 until 1986. She was the last surviving charter member of her beloved church, Calvary Baptist Church on Buick Avenue in Kannapolis, where she taught Sunday School for 65 years, sang in the choir, played the piano, and served on many church committees and mission organizations. She graduated from Cannon High School in Kannapolis in 1938. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Boyce Watkins; three sisters, Irene Rogers, Polly Lowder and Grace McManus; two brothers Chester Tanner and Grady Tanner; one grandchild and one great- grandson. Survivors include a daughter, Sherry Watkins Smith and husband, the Rev. Max Smith of Kannapolis; a sister, Mrs. Edna Biggerstaff of Universal Health Care of Concord; three grandchildren, Phil Smith and wife Dee of Swansboro, Kenny Smith and Kevin Smith and wife, Dana, both of Kingsport, TN; one great-grandchild, Brock Smith of Swansboro; several nieces and nephews, including Mrs. Carolyn Tanner Norris of Kannapolis, whom she helped rear for 19 years. The family request that memorials be sent to the Land Fund of Calvary Baptist Church, 703 Buick Avenue, Kannapolis, NC 28083.