Gail Mountford Watkins

Frankfort – Gail Mountford Watkins, Age 80, passed away Thursday, January 5, 2023, at home surrounded by loved ones as they held her hands. Services will be held at Harrod Brothers Funeral Home on Thursday, January 12 2023, at 2:00 p.m. with Rev. Anthony Purvis officiating. Visitation will be 12:00 p.m. until 2:00 p.m. Gail was born in Morristown, New Jersey on September 4, 1942, to the late Franklin Earnest Mountford and Annie Laurie Simcox Mountford. Growing up in New Jersey, she found a love for nature with her time spent at the shore. She was a Girl Scout Curved Bar Award recipient, a graduate of Eastern Kentucky University, an Art teacher at Bryan Station Junior High School; an Artist for the KY Department of Education where she was promoted to the department’s Educator Recognition Program. In retirement, she volunteered at the Salato Wildlife Education Center, earning the Volunteer of the Year Award multiple times. Eventually working at Salato where she instructed many public education programs and was very involved with the Native Plant Program. She had an immense love of nature, especially cats and greyhounds whom she rescued and adopted. She also volunteered for the LIFE House for Animals and the Retired Racing Greyhound Network. She was admired for her beautiful award-winning garden and extensive knowledge of native plants. She loved to be outside in her garden and we will forever remember her referring to “digging in the dirt” with a smile. She was an active community member that gave herself to the world without any expectation. She was preceded in death by a brother, Lawrence Simcox Mountford in October 2022. She is survived by a son, Mark Thomas Watkins and a daughter, Laurie Lee Watkins; brother, Timothy Lee Mountford; sister-in-law, Anne Green Mountford (Lawrence); brother-in-law Danny Dale Watkins; beloved granddaughters, Elizabeth Ann Marie Watkins and Vanessa Nicole Brooke Watkins; and a niece, Sidney Mountford Doctor. Serving as honorary pallbearers will be Daryl Thomas Snook, Diane Harrod Trautwein, Oreta O’Mara, John Hunt Davis, Mary Beth Davis, David Thomas Renwick, Elsworth Edward Davis Jr, and Sriram Balaji. In lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy may be made to the American Cancer Society or the LIFE House for Animals. Arrangements are under the direction of Harrod Brothers Funeral Home & Crematory.

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Gail Mountford Watkins

September 4, 1942 - January 5, 2023