Elizabeth Cissy Watson

Elizabeth Watson, better known with affection by her family and childhood friends as Cissy passed away on November 13th at her home in The Colony, TX, a suburb of Dallas. She was the daughter of Lolly and Sarah Kathie Rebich, born on September 21, 1959, in St. Louis, Missouri.

She spent her early years growing up in the city of St. Louis before her family moved to the suburbs. She graduated from Lutheran High North in 1977 and later attended Stephens College where she studied fashion and design. During her high school years, she was involved in gymnastics and cheerleading. She took a great deal of pride in cheerleading throughout high school. She loved baseball and even spent a summer as a bat girl for the St. Louis Cardinals in the late 1970’s.

As a child she spent her Summers in Florida with her family on Sanibel Island. She loved to go shelling on the beach with her mother and running free through what was at that time an undiscovered and undeveloped island. She became an accomplished tap dancer during these early years with professional instruction. She would go on to perform tap on the Golden Rod Showboat in St. Louis and later in New York on the play 42nd Street. She often joked that she would have been a superstar if she could only sing.

In the late 1980’s she relocated to the west coast and immediately fell in love with California. She loved the weather, beaches, and laid-back attitude. She traveled extensively during this time spending 6 months in Thailand, trekking through the country by foot and elephant and scuba diving along beautiful reefs. She was at that time a master certified Scuba diver. In 1989, she met her future husband, Jeff Watson and they became inseparable. In 1992, Elizabeth moved to Portland, Oregon to support Jeff’s career with Toyota. They lived in the Pacific Northwest for 24 years experiencing one of the most beautiful parts of the country and making many lifelong friends. In 2016, they relocated again with Toyota to Texas.

Elizabeth was one of the sweetest and most passionate people you’d ever meet. You always knew where she was coming from. She had an unwavering loyalty to her family and close friends. Generosity and kindness flowed naturally from her. She routinely put the needs of others before her own. She was a keen listener and critical thinker with a sharp and unrivaled intellect who focused intently on people in her life or even perfect strangers. She loved people and always wanted to know more. One of her finest qualities was how she would offer encouragement and compliments to others to brighten their day, even when she wasn’t well. She had a special affinity and compassion for the elderly and routinely went out of her way to acknowledge and provide a wink and a smile and extra attention for someone who she thought needed it. She was a beautiful person inside and out, a free spirit who people were drawn to for her energy, thoughts, advise and friendship. She was as genuine a person as you will ever meet, always direct. She hated superficiality and conversely loved conversations involving depth and substance. Despite her 5’1” stature she was a powerhouse with the strongest of wills who refused to be intimidated or pushed around in any way. Her courage, strength and tenacity endured until the very end.

Elizabeth will be missed dearly by all who knew her. She is preceded in her death by her father Lolly, mother Kathie and sister Karen and survived by her brother Robert (Bean) and husband Jeff. A Celebration of Life Service will be scheduled in California after the holidays.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.stonebriarfh.com for the Watson family.