Kenneth A. Watson, 87, Martinsville, died at 10:44 p.m. Sept. 24, 2004, at the Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital in Columbia, Mo. The son of the late Lester and Anna (Arend) Watson, he was born Jan. 28, 1917, in Eminence. His wife, Rosealice (Baldwin) Watson, whom he married Jan. 25, 1941, survives in Martinsville. Watson was the Mayor of Martinsville from 1952 to 1956 and the former owner/operator of Watson & Son in Martinsville from 1946 to 1980. He was a painting contractor for several years and a journalist for the Indianapolis Times. A 1933 graduate of Martinsville High School, Watson was a member of the National Honor Society; president of HIY; junior class president and a member of the 1933 Indiana State Basketball Championship team. He was a graduate of the University of Southern California School of Journalism. He was a member of the First Christian Church in Martinsville and served as an elder, trustee and former chairman of the board. He was also a member of the Eagle Scouts; 60-year member of the American Legion Post 230 and former commander; 30 plus year member and past president of the American Cancer Society of Morgan County; volunteer driver for the American Red Cross; director for 20 plus years of Home Bank; original member and past president of the Morgan County YMCA Board; founding member of the Community Foundation of Morgan County, and advisory board member for Vincennes University. He received the Boy Scout Beaver Award as an adult volunteer and was district chairman of the Boy Scouts. He was a 1963 State of Indiana Sagamore of the Wabash Award recipient; democratic party chairman for Morgan County and State 7th District; original member of the Kennedy Memorial Christian Home Board; instrumental in building the present YMCA building in Martinsville and was awarded the 1979 "Man of the Year," from the local Barbara B. Jordan YMCA. During Watson's term as Mayor, he played a key role in Martinsville's first public park and swimming pool and implemented the fluoridation of public water supply in Martinsville in 1953. A veteran of the United States Army, the former Mayor served four years in the United States Army Corp during World War II. Other survivors include three sons, Stephen Watson, Greenwood; Thomas Watson, Indianapolis, and Dr. Timothy Watson, Columbia, Mo., and five grandchildren, Alison, Jeffrey, Alexander, Nicholas and Bennett Watson. A son, Lawrence Watson, and a sister, Lois Dix, also preceded him in death. The service will be 1 p.m. Thursday at the First Christian Church, 89 S. Main St., in Martinsville. Dr. Larry J. Kuntz and the Reverends Al Johnson and Linda Presley will officiate. Entombment will be in Nebo Memorial Park Mausoleum in Martinsville.