March 21, 2002
Father Robert Watson
Father Watson was born in Louisville, KY on August 18, 1927. He studied for the priesthood at Maryknoll seminary, Ossining, NY and St. Thomas Seminary, Denver, Colorado before being ordained by Bishop Carroll at St. Mary’s Cathedral on May 23, 1953. He served as an assistant at the cathedral; Andale; Haysville; All Saints, Wichita; and Garden Plain and was pastor at Franklin; Walnut; Derby; Andover; Cunningham; and Ost. Among his other assignments he was diocesan director of youth; diocesan director of scouts; chaplain of Halstead Hospital; and chaplain to the IHM Sisters in Wichita. He was living in retirement in Jemez Springs, NM at the time of his death on March 21, 2002. Msgr. John Gilsenan represented the Diocese of Wichita at Father Watson’s funeral and burial in Jemez Springs, NM. Bishop Olmsted was principal celebrant of a memorial Mass for Father Watson in St. Elizabeth Chapel at the Catholic Care Center in Wichita on March 25, 2002.