Lou "Grandma Lou" Dean Watts

Age 79, of San Diego, passed away at her home on December 15th, 2020 having lived a life full of all the riches of love and family.

Lou was born in Southern Illinois to Dwight and Wilma Jean Johnson. As a young girl, and the oldest daughter, Lou Dean learned piano and clarinet, and was always a natural teacher of all she learned to her little sisters (Anita and Tama). The girls sang and entertained locally. She was an excellent student, preferring to learn those skills associated with her male counterparts (math and engineering) and loved working beside her dad all his years.

At 14, her parents and sisters drove cross country with all their belongings to Duarte, California. This was the first of many road trip adventures in Lou’s life. Once arriving in California, she graduated from Monrovia High School, started college and began her first job at J.C. Penney’s. Shortly after, her little brother Jay joined the family.

Lou was married in 1960 to Beler H. Watts Jr. They have two children, Dena Lou and Beler III. While Beler Jr, worked for Sears, Roebuck & Co., the family moved from Southern California, to Tucson, Arizona, Livermore, California and Sacramento, California. Lou raised her children, taught piano lessons in Livermore, and the family was always involved in the Nazarene Church where ever they lived. After moving to Sacramento in the early 70s, Lou created the children’s choir, Young Disciples at the Arden Church of the Nazarene and they performed many elaborate musicals over the years. Also during her years in Sacramento, Lou was a top salesperson and manager for Home Interiors, Inc. Later she was the Office Manager for the District office of the Nazarene Church.

As Dena likes to refer to the late 70s as her parents “middle age crazy,” the family purchased acres in Rio Linda, California and built their dream home. This was a very happy time for Lou. She had a pond, stocked with trout and a fishing dock, she raised cows (Yes, her favorite was always Sook-Sook), and she had a great love for her pigs as well.

Beler and Lou always entertained in their homes. The best of times were Saturday evenings, with dozens of fresh chips and salsa, a platter full of “Tucson Tacos”, Poblano and a houseful of friends to eat and play cards or board games. This tradition morphed into “Taco Tuesday” in her more recent years in San Diego, but always a favorite of Lou’s family and friends.

While living in Rio Linda, and as her children left for college, Lou went back to college herself, earned an AA and her General Contractors license. Using this license, she started the Sunshine Company and built a dozen or more spec homes in the area. She loved building for others, and adding her special touches for her clients. In each home was a custom piece of stain glass Lou designed.

Lou liked to say that she lived three different lives in her lifetime. As she transitioned to the third life, she moved to the Bay Area (Los Gatos) and as a small business owner she had multiple hotel gift shops in and around San Francisco. This was a growing business that she owned and ran with her dear friend Daniel Andre, and she was quite successful in the shops, until the earthquake of 1989. The City was slow to recover, and her daughter Dena, was living in San Diego and had twins in 1990. Lou packed up and moved to San Diego where she stayed for the next 30 years and was an integral part of her daughter’s and her San Diego grandkids, Lahna, Weston and Mitchell’s lives until her very last day.

In the late 90s, Lou survived ovarian cancer. Her sister, Tama came to San Diego to be with her through all her treatments and recovery. Shortly afterwards, the two decided that the next generation of “cousins” needed quality time together and the two created Camp River Rat. It was held at the river in Entiat, Washington and Lou, Tama and Bob invited eight of the cousins to come and camp, fish, cook, sing and be together. River Rat donuts and “Stuck together like glue” songs are everlasting memories for the cousins.

Lou lived in the Mission Hills area, had the charming house on the corner, always freshly painted and the yard getting compliments from neighbors and walkers nearly every day. While she lived in San Diego, she got back into gift shops and retail. Managing the gift shops at hospitals, primarily Sharp Grossmont, she met her best friends, Ana and Rosemary, and managed dozens of volunteers of all ages. Again, adding her special touches, she will always be known best for her poems and her Beanie Babies.

Lou was also a self-proclaimed Padre Madre. Spring training in Arizona was a favorite time of year and she went many years to watch her San Diego Padres and held season tickets to cheer them on at Petco Park. She shared this love with her son, Beler III and they always had this topic and Hall of Fame stories to share.

When she finally retired from her day job, she kept busy with her favorite pastimes - gardening, cooking, and making jams and jellies. She took daily walks through the neighborhood to admire all the colorful plantings in yards. Lou loved to unplug by heading to Silent Valley for weeks at a time camping with her shadow, TippiCanoe near Idyllwild. Her grandkids loved camping with their G-Lou, in tents and her camper on the hill.

Lou lived life fully, on her terms, always sharing so much of herself with those she loved the very most. And while we are all going to miss her, she left us on her terms as well.

She was preceded in death by her beloved father in 1997 and her mother in 2016.

Lou is survived by her 2 children, 5 grandchildren, her dog, 3 siblings, her large extended family and so many friends that she loved with all her heart.

In lieu of flowers please make a donation to the American Cancer Society in her name.