Richard Allin Watson Jr.

Rick was a private person, however once he knew you, he would become your most trustworthy friend. Gentle, generous, and dependable, he was loved by friends and family.

He was a staunch advocate for cats and his love for them was unwavering. He actively volunteered at Shadow Cats Rescue, where he was Director of Special Projects and where he adopted both Valentino and Calypso, and at the Austin Humane Society where he added his beloved Knox to his feline family. Rick spent countless hours at Shadow Cats developing extensive security systems and other IT projects and often closed out the days with a lapful of cats showing their happiness at his presence in their lives.

Rick graduated in 1975 from The University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, and was president of Watson Engineering. His broad interests included dining out with friends or enjoying a good home-cooked meal, metal works, working out, reading and bicycling. Being a computer enthusiast, Rick enjoyed computer programming and creating computer gadgets. He wrote one of the first Apple TCP/IP programs and created numerous CAD writings. His greatest joy, however, was spending time with his lifelong best friend Vinny, his close friends Jeff, Vanessa and Rolo, his family, and his cats.

Rick is survived by his loving family, including his mother, Ann Watson; brothers, Philip and Jeff; sister-in-law, Donna; nieces, Nicole, Whitney, and Bailee; nephew, Jonathan; great niece, Saylor; great nephew, Hudson; and life-long best friend, Vinny Wong.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Shadow Cat Rescue where he spent most of his time volunteering.

A Memorial Service will be held from 12:00pm to 3:00pm on Saturday, June 19th, 2021, at Cook Walden Funeral Home, 6100 N. Lamar Blvd. Austin, TX.