Thomas Watts Obituary

Thomas H. Watts, a resident of La Grange Park, died on July 23 at Adventist LaGrange Memorial Hospital. He was 95. Watts was born in 1917 in Atlanta, GA., but grew up in different areas such as Lincoln, NE; Edmonton, Alberta; and Regina, Saskatchewan, before his family finally settled on Chicago's south side. He graduated from the University of Illinois in 1938 with a degree in industrial administration, playing in the Marching Illini marching band and writing the Campus Scout column for the college newspaper, The Daily Illini. A few years later, he joined the U.S. Army, becoming one of the first U.S. servicemen to learn about radar. He served as a first lieutenant in the Pacific during World War II. Watts spent his career as a sales engineer in the insulation business. His greatest love, however, was singing. He was a lifelong member of SPEBSQSA, the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America, now doing business as the Barbershop Harmony Society. He sang in numerous choruses in Illinois over the years, and one of his quartets, the Barber-Q Four, took sixth place in international competition in 1955. He also sang in church choirs throughout his life and stayed active in singing until the time of his death. He married Nelle Shagan in1954 and had two daughters, the late Kim Watts and Sharon Watts Spooner of Oak Park. Nelle died in 1990, and he married Marian Worcester in 1993, who survives, along with a brother, Paul Watts, both in La Grange Park. He also had two granddaughters, Sarah Spooner of Washington, D.C., and Rebecca Spooner of Chicago. A memorial service is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday, August 18, at Plymouth Place, 315 N. LaGrange Road, La Grange Park. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Presbyterian Church of Western Springs, 5250 Wolf Road, Western Springs, 60558, or to the Barbershop Harmony Society, 110 7th Ave. N., Nashville, TN 37203-3704.