Hattie Idell Watts

Hattie Idell Simpson Watts, age 99, passed away Tuesday morning, May 12, 2020 at the Sardis Nursing Home in Sardis, MS.

A graveside service will be 1:00 P.M. Friday, May 15, 2020, at Forrest Memorial Park in Batesville, MS.

A live stream of the graveside service may viewed on the Wells Funeral Home Facebook page and also an uploaded copy will be posted on this page at the conclusion of the service.

Idell was born April 16, 1921 in Ellard, MS to the late Oscar and Ethel Shelton Simpson.  Married in 1939, Idell and Homer lived in the Enon community in the same house for sixty-five years, where they farmed and raised a loving family. She was a faithful and active member of Enon Baptist Church, and had a host of friends in the community. She kept up with birthdays of her friends and her children's friends, not in a book but in her memory, making yearly calls to many of them on their special days.

The wife of a farmer, she loved the land as well and always raised a garden even until the age of 97. She always had an abundance of food, both frozen and canned, to feed her family and to share with extended family and friends. Her yard was full of flowers she had planted or gotten cuttings of from friends and family members.

She had a great sense of humor, and when you visited her, she always said something to make you laugh. Idell never gave up her independence, even as she aged, still cooking and cleaning and taking care of her faithful companion, Little Dog, whom she said acted as her doorbell and food tester.

Idell loving and caring memory will be cherished by her son, Danny Watts of Batesville, MS; two grandchildren, Claudia Barron of Cordova, TN, David Barron (Lisa) of Arlington, TN; three great grandchildren, Kate, Addison, and Spencer Barron (Blanche), and numerous nieces and nephews.

Along with her parents, Idell was preceded in death by her husband, Claude Homer Watts; daughter, Bertha Louise Watts Barron; great granddaughter, Madison Barron and her twin sister, Odell Ledbetter.