Phillip Candler Watkins

He was born in 1941 in Homewood, attended Edgewood Elementary School, Shades Valley High School, and the University of Alabama where he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon. He graduated from the Medical College of Alabama in 1966, completed his medical internship at Carraway Methodist Hospital, and completed further training at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He returned to Birmingham to complete a fellowship with Dr. John Kirklin.

Dr. Watkins served in the Army Medical Corps in Korea in the late 1960’s, and he and his wife and first daughter traveled extensively throughout the region.

He joined Cardiovascular Associates of Alabama in 1974 and founded the Autonomic Disorders and Mitral Valve Prolapse Center, where he practiced until his retirement in 2014. He was a pioneer in the field of mitral valve prolapse and helped thousands of patients from all over the country and world during his career.

He was a member of the Birmingham Clinical Society,

President of the Birmingham Cardiology Society,

President of the Medical Staff at Baptist Medical Center- Montclair, a longtime member of the President’s Cabinet at University of Alabama and a founding board member of HealthSouth Corporation. He was a member of The Club and the Country Club of Birmingham.

His hobbies included travel, especially to Africa, spending time at Lake Martin, photography, art, landscaping, pets and Alabama football. He loved technology, cars and good meals at Bottega with friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Candler Watkins and Mary Sue McDermott Watkins, and his first wife, Elizabeth Dean Watkins.

He is survived by his loving wife, Cler Watkins, stepson David Alexander Weaver; his sister, Sharon Watkins Curran (Chuck) of Charlotte, North Carolina; his daughters Ashley Watkins Umbach (Trip), Susan Watkins Dulin (John), and Lauren Watkins Stahl (Preston) of New York City; and his grandchildren: William Swede Umbach, Warren Watkins Umbach, Robert Dowie Umbach, John Philip Dulin, III, Ellen Elizabeth Dulin, William Alexander Stahl, Preston Brooks Stahl, and baby boy Stahl, due in December.

Visitation will be at 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, November 9, 2016 and a memorial service will follow at 11:00 a.m., both at All Saints Episcopal Church in Homewood.

Memorials can be made to Family Promise of Birmingham, P.O. Box 531233, Birmingham, AL 35253 or Safe Haven Animal Rescue, Suite 101-204, 459 Main Street, Trussville, AL 35173.

Arrangements under the direction of Ridout's Valley Chapel, Homewood, AL.