William Eugene Watlington (b. March 21, 1918, d. June 30, 1993) and Emily Ruth Forbis lived as neighors on East Chester Street as youth, and while Eugene was serving with the U.S. Navy at Pensacola, Florida in 1942 they were married. World War II kept them apart most of the time until April 1946, but Eugene had enough shore leave to start a family though Ruth lived and worked in Jackson during the War years. Their families joined in to help with the children, Doris (b. 1943) and William E. Jr., (b. 1944).
Eugene's experience in grocery stores (including Uncle Will's) gave him experience as a ``store keeper'' that he followed aboard ships of the Navy. He signed on April 3, 1940 and served until April 18, 1946. Much of this time was spent at sea on a 1918 vintage four stack destroyer modified for WWII, the U.S.S. Waters, (APD-8). Most of his service was on the Pacific after some early months along the Gulf Coast. His bases were as varied as Norfolk, Pensacola, Mobile, Waipio (Hawaii), San Pedro, Ca., and the U.S.S. St Mary's (Troop carrier, APA-126) which brought Ulrich Mack Watlington home from Okinawa when the war was over in 1945. Much of the task for his destroyer was to escort the landing crafts for the island warfare in the Pacific. He registered support for twelve different landings in the Pacific.
Coming home in April 1946 he found work with the Tennessee Highway Department which he followed until 1952, when he sought and found work at Tinker Army Air Base at Oklahoma City. He stayed in the Navy Reserve Corps until 1957 and continued with the Air Force base job until retirement in 1978, at 60 years of age. The active outdoor life he had lived began to show up and crippling arthritis came on in his last years.
Ruth and Eugene added three other children to their wartime two; Edward Earl in 1946, m. Virginia Ore; Gail Lynn, b. 1952, m. Roderick D. Kuwamoto (now divorced), and works for Civil Service in Columbus, Ga.; Donald Wayne, b. 1958, divorced with 3 boys and 1 girl. He is in construction work.
With the passing of the years Ruth continued her secretarial work, most recently with a trucking company where she was an executive secretary with lots of responsibilities. The children married and each have children of their own, a total of fourteen grandchildren. Eugene died in 1992 but Ruth has stayed at the same home that has been theirs for many years. Doris and Jimmie W. Reese live at Kingston, Oklahoma. Gail Lynn and her son settled in Columbus, Ga. after traveling many years in the U.S. Army. Edward Earl and Virginia Ore have developed a long lasting relationship and reared their family in Midwest City not far from his parents home.