Private services will be held for Thelma Christine Watkins, 101, formerly of West Plains, Missouri and a resident of Springfield, Missouri since 2015.

Mrs. Watkins passed away of natural causes on Sunday, January 3, 2021, at her home.

She was born November 17, 1919, at Hookerton, North Carolina, to Emmett C. Hoffman and Nannie Whaley Hoffman.  She graduated from high school in 1936 and became a registered nurse prior to the start of WWII.  While serving her country as a nurse and 1 ^st Lieutenant, Thelma was stationed at various places in Europe and was active in the Rhineland campaign.  While stationed in France, she met her future husband.  On October 7, 1948, she was married at St. Louis, Missouri, to William H. (Bill) Watkins, who preceded her in death on November 11, 1998.  After the war, she graduated from University of North Carolina with a Public Health Certification.  Mrs. Watkins worked at the West Plains Memorial Hospital from 1963 through 1979 as a surgical nurse.

She is survived by her son, George Watkins and wife, Margaret, Springfield, Missouri and their two sons, Matthew and Todd, Austin, Texas; two sisters, Faye Cox and Nannie May Barrow, State of North Carolina; and several nieces and nephews.

Her parents and husband preceded her in death.