Doris Ruth Watts (May 18, 1935-September 1, 2026)

Our mom, Doris Ruth Watts, passed away in her home surrounded by her loving family on September 1, 2026. She was an extremely humble person, so we are going to tell you about some of the wonderful things she brought to this world.

She was born to Bette Josephine (Mathieson) and Edward Hohlfeld in Ravenna, Nebraska on May 18, 1935. Her family relocated to Alliance, Nebraska where she graduated from High School in 1953. She studied journalism at the University of Denver for a year before she was recruited by the University of Redlands which offered her a full scholarship. At Redlands she majored in English and minored in French. She also served as lead member of the university’s writing team which competed in the yearly Forest Lawn college essay contests. One of the team’s coaches was newswoman Adela Rogers St. John who mom recalled as eccentric but a skilled writing mentor.

In June 1957, just days after graduating from the University of Redlands, our Mom married our Dad, Thomas H. Watts, who she met in a political science class. (He phoned to ask her out for their first date. She said yes because she thought he was someone else.) They relocated to Claremont, California where she worked in the Scripps College’s public relations office. Mom and Dad soon moved to our Dad’s hometown of San Diego where they raised us—their two daughters. For many years Mom and Dad were active in local politics and worked in the campaigns of Reverend George Walker Smith. They were long-time members of Reverend Smith’s church (Golden Hill/Christ United Presbyterian Church) where Mom was a deacon and taught Sunday School.

In 1964, our Dad and several other teachers founded the Elementary Institute of Science (EIS), a pioneering STEM program serving the children of Southeast San Diego. Over the past six decades, EIS has grown and has offered science education to thousands and thousands of children, many from underrepresented groups. What many people don’t know is that our Mom was EIS’s silent and steady partner. For many years, she wrote the grants that funded the program; she chaperoned field trips, grunion hunts, and campouts; provided secretarial services; assisted with fundraising and communication; and taught science in the afterschool program. In the summer of 1968, EIS acquired its first building, a condemned house that the city rented to EIS for one dollar a year. The minute EIS took possession of the building, our mom began cleaning and preparing it so the children could use it safely.

Our Mom was brilliant and curious. She loved science. Even though she was quite ill this past summer, she watched the recent moon shot intently. She loved watching her granddaughters’ dance ballet and never missed a performance. She also loved writing and literature. In her fifties, she returned to school and earned a Master of Arts degree in Technical Communication. Her M.A. thesis advanced ideas about the interface between humans and computers that are now commonly used in the computer field and technical writing. Mom also wrote poetry and continued to do so right up until her illness. She was published in several highly regarded journals and was twice a finalist in the Howard Nemerov Sonnet Competition.

Most of all, Mom loved her family.

To mourn her, she leaves behind us, her two daughters, Dr. Jill Watts and Rebecca Woo; a son-in-law, Donald Woo; two granddaughters, Sarah and Abby Woo (who lovingly called their grandmother Baba); her sister-in-law, Nancy Peck; many nieces and nephews; and a host of very dear friends. She was preceded in death by our Dad.

Mom was kind, smart, funny, and wise. She will always be beloved, and we miss her so.

If you are interested in joining us to celebrate her life, please contact jwatts@csusm.edu.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Elementary Institute of Science (601 51st Street, San Diego, California, 92114 or https://eisca.org).

We love you Mom,

Jill and Becky