Jeanetta Watson's Story: A Life of Service Not Forgotten

Jeanetta Watson served with her husband, Wendell, in Oklahoma and Texas for 45 years. Wendell, a bivocational pastor, always pastored small churches that could not pay a full-time minister. Some of the jobs he worked to supplement his pastoral income included selling insurance, selling church bonds and running his own landscaping business. Though the Watsons weren’t able to save much in the way of retirement, the Lord always provided for their daily needs.

After the Watsons retired from 45 years in the ministry, Wendell’s health worsened. He was on dialysis for the last six years of his life, and Jeanetta was his caretaker. When Wendell passed in 2005, Jeanetta worked as a substitute teacher in the local school district until her own struggle with health issues derailed that income stream.

Finances became tight as Jeanetta tried to keep up with car insurance, house insurance and supplemental insurance, which added up. Sometimes she couldn’t pay for extra things such as tires and repairs for the car. Jeanetta would not even go to the doctor or dentist because that was just another expense she couldn’t pay.

Thankfully, friends and Mission:Dignity® donors Jon and Carol Young, recommended that Jeanetta apply to Mission:Dignity. The rest, they say, is history.

Take it from Jeanetta, “I pray that all of you realize what this means to know our years of service have not been forgotten. Many of those years were a struggle, but I would not change a thing. I’m sure Wendell is looking down from heaven and would say, ‘Thank you for looking after my wife.’”