Michael Watson Obituary

Michael Cunningham Watson BAMBERG, SC - Dr. Michael Cunningham Watson, of Bamberg, passed away on Tuesday, December 20, 2016 following an extended illness. He was born on Jan. 15, 1926, in Ridge Spring, SC. The son of Mary Aurelia Cunningham and Joseph Calhoun Watson, Mike was married for 60 years to the former Mary Carolyn Tatum. The youngest of four children (two sisters and a brother), "Mickey" grew up on his parents' farm in the peach country of Ridge Spring, SC, graduated from Ridge Spring High school, and enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, serving in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Following the war, Mike graduated from Clemson College (today University) and was a 1953 graduate of the Medical University of South Carolina. Dr. Watson established a medical practice in Bamberg in July 1954, where he met his future bride and the love of his life. He then began a journey that would take him far beyond the family peach orchards, to places he had never heard of and ideas he had never imagined. The father of six children, he was an avid life-long United Methodist. His ideas for short term mission work were the basis for United Methodist Volunteers in Missions ("UMVIM"), a national program in which hundreds of thousands have participated and many more have benefitted. The idea for his own beloved Trinity United Methodist Church to partner with Mt. Carmel, a neighboring United Methodist church, transformed a former neighborhood drug den into a community after-school "mission cottage" program, the Shalom Zone Mission Cottage. A tireless advocate for rural needs, Dr. Watson and his long-time partner, Dr. F. Marion Dwight, were the first physicians in the area to racially integrate waiting rooms within their office. Dr. Watson became a founding member of the TriCounty Drug & Alcohol Abuse Commission, which started the region's only adolescent inpatient drug and alcohol treatment program, and acted as its Board Chairman from 1987 until 2015. In 1969, he established the first comprehensive, rural hypertension clinic in the Southeast. He was the first recipient of the Bamberg County Citizen of the Year Award in 1975. As a school board member leading public school desegration in the 1960's and a promoter of equality in education, Dr. Watson's negotiations with the federal government to ensure this major change would not negatively impact the children's learning for the school year nearly landed him in prison - but led to a highly successful plan of integration. In higher education, he was a Trustee for Claflin College (today University) in Orangeburg for over a decade, received its 1987 Claflin Presidential Award for Outstanding Service and Dedication and gave its 1991 Founders Day address. Dr. Watson received the 1982 Honorary Doctorate of Humanities at Wofford College in Spartanburg and was the first layperson in the history of the college to give the Baccalaureate Sermon that year. The depth of love for his patients was boundless. Dr. Watson's medical practice cut across every socio and economic strata. His sense of humor was well known. In 1975, he was the state's first physician to bring certified nurse midwives into his practice. Dr. Watson personally delivered thousands of the area's children. Among his extended assistance to so many, were Dr. and Mrs. Ajit Randhawa, who were moving to the area from India. This led to a close lifelong friendship with the family of which he was proud to have delivered their Bamberg-born children, one of whom was S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley (who is today destined to become United States Ambassador to the United Nations). In addition to being a private physician for nearly a half century, Dr. Watson accepted a plea to serve "part time" as Bamberg County Health Director. During his resulting twenty six years of public service, his unique and effective solutions to myriad health problems were repeatedly duplicated statewide, and in 1991 he was named S.C. Family Physician of the Year. With the arrival of AIDS at a time when the cause was unknown, but the dread consequences of the disease were, this rural physician became the veritable "AIDS doctor" in his community merely by the choice to treat them at a time most would not. For his work with HIV/AIDS, in 2002, he was awarded The Order of the Palmetto, South Carolina's highest civilian award. Dr. Watson dearly loved his family and his church, and he enjoyed spending time at his mountain cottage in NC. Prior to his declining health, he also enjoyed hiking, beekeeping, making beeswax candles, photography, watching Clemson football, reading, and daily devotionals with his wife. Dr. Watson is survived by his spouse of 60 years, Mary Carolyn Tatum Watson of Bamberg; their six (6) children, Mary Elizabeth ("Mary Beth") Watson-Manheim (Frank Kelly) of Chicago, IL, Michael Cunningham ("Mike") Watson, Jr. (Tammy) of Raleigh, NC, Caroline Nicholson Watson of Charleston, SC, Joseph Calhoun ("Cal") Watson (Cathy) of Columbia, SC, John Tatum Watson (Donna Weagel) of Atlanta, GA, and Aurelia Cunningham Watson Nelson (Joe) of Boise, ID. He is also survived by his eight (8) grandchildren, Wayne Cooper ("Cooper") Fritz, Jr. (Katie), Catherine Tatum Watson, Joseph Calhoun ("Jay") Watson, Jr., Elizabeth Kirkland ("Bess") Watson, John Samuel ("Sam") Nelson, Sydney Grace Nelson, Conrad Tatum Watson and Vincent ("Vince") Sinclair Watson. Additionally, he is survived by his brother, Joseph Calhoun ("Joe") Watson III of Ridge Spring, SC; his sister, Elizabeth Sterrett Watson Tandy Pinckney of Chapel Hill, NC; and numerous nieces and nephews. In addition to his parents, Dr. Watson was predeceased by a sister, Mary Aurelia ("Pat") Watson Brown. A memorial service will be held on Sunday, January 15, 2017, at 2:00pm, on what would have been Dr. Watson's 91st birthday, at Trinity United Methodist Church in Bamberg. Memorials may be made to United Methodist Volunteers in Missions, c/o Maxine Smith, 2681 Oakhurst Drive, Rock Hill, SC 29732; Trinity United Methodist Church, PO Box 335, Bamberg, SC 29003; or the Shalom Zone Mission Cottage, PO Box 93, Bamberg, SC 29003. Visit our guestbook at www.legacy.com/obituaries/ charleston