Henry A. Watts June 1, 1925 - August 13, 2020

Atkinson, NH – Henry A. “Bud” Watts, 95 husband of the late Marjorie A. Watts, passed away August 13, 2020 at his home.

Born in Boston he was the son of the late Frank E. and Alice (Tucker) Watts. He attended schools in Malden. In 1942 to 1943 he was a crew man on the personal yacht of the Army General in charge of the Boston Port of Embarkation and also a crew man on a sea going tug. In November of 1943, he gave up his Merchant Marine classification to join the Navy and was part of a naval gun crew on two merchant ships that brought ammo and supplies to the European Theater of Operations until VE Day. He was then transferred to the Pacific Theater of operations. Henry was assigned to the USS San Clemente, which was home ported in Shanghai, China until it sailed back to the U.S. in May of 1946. He was discharged to a reserve unit in October of 1946 and remained with this unit until he was assigned back to active duty in 1950. Henry served on the USS Columbus, a heavy cruiser, for three years and on destroyers USS Timmerman and USS Harwood . He was then commissioned an Ensign in 1956 and was assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Lake Champlain. Henry was transferred to the USS H.R. Dickson DD-708, as the engineering officer. In 1961 he reported to the Naval Communication Station in Newport, RI as the Executive Officer(XO). In 1963 he was the XO of the USS Skywatcher for two years and was then transferred to the Office of Naval Communications in the Pentagon for two years. In 1967 he reported to the USS Oxford in Vietnam and after a year as XO was transferred to the Naval Communication Officers School as Officer in Charge. He retired from his naval military career in August 1970 as a Lieutenant Commander.

Henry has been a member of the Appalachian Mountain Club since 1984 and a member of the “Over 4000 Footer Club”. He hiked the Austrian Alps, the Tien Shan Mountain Range in Khazakstan, USSR with the Russian Mountaineers, Mt. Fuji in Japan, and twice in Nepal, hiking into the Mt. Everest Base Camp in 1994. Henry was a member of the Groveland Congregational Church for 60 years and was a Choir member 30 years. He was married to Marjorie A. (Roy) Watts for 70 years plus and resided in Groveland for 50 years until moving to Atkinson, NH.

Henry is survived by his children, Michelle Watts and her husband Michael Maroney of Haverhill; Nancie Conlon of Atkinson, NH; Sherry Cann and her husband Larry of Haverhill; five granddaughters, Raquel, Kellie, Tara, Nicole and Colleen; seven great grandchildren; three great great grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews. In addition to his wife Marjorie was predeceased by his son Kurt H. Watts, siblings Roger Watts, Donald Watts, Joan McAuliffe, Frank Watts, Jean Gillen, Glorya Bourassa, Helen Hein and Joyce Hein.

Family and friends are respectfully invited to attend calling hours on Tuesday, August 18 from 4:00PM until 7:00PM at the Kevin B. Comeau Funeral Home, 486 Main Street, Haverhill. Funeral services will be on Wednesday, August 19 at 11:00AM at the Groveland Congregational Church, 4 King Street, Groveland. To live stream the service please visit https://client.tribucast.com/tcid/66406256. Burial will follow in Riverview Cemetery, Main Street, Groveland. Donations may be made in Henry’s name to the Groveland Congregational Church. Please visit Comeau Funeral Home on Facebook or www.comeaufuneral.com