Mary Alice Sbarbaro Watson

Mary Alice Sbarbaro Watson (M.A.) aged 90 years 4 months 20 days passed away Wednesday 16 August 2023 at home surrounded by family in Niceville, Florida where she resided with her daughter, Maryann, and family.

Mary Alice was born in Washington D.C. on the 27th of March 1933 to Mary Robinson Barrow (Forest Hill, MD) and Giovanni Giacomo Giorgio Sbarbaro (Jack) (NYC, NY). The cause of death is complications of dementia. She is preceded in death by her husband Joseph Levi Watson Sr., her parents, her sister Virginia Louise Sbarbaro Fernandez, her son John Dwight Watson Sr., and her great-granddaughter Avalynn Marie Walde. She is survived by her son Joseph Levi Watson Jr. (Julie), Maryann Johnson (Louis), and Gina Marie Watson-Haley. Also 12 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren.

Mary Alice enjoyed drawing in charcoals, swimming, her German Shepherd, Sase, long walks, meeting new people – no one was a stranger to her, horseback riding, musicals, card games, going to the beach, picnicking, singing, reading, traveling, and loved perusing Hallmark cards for hours. She devoted her life to raising her four children in Brandon and St. Petersburg Florida. She loved babysitting her grandchildren.

She graduated from Bladensburg High School in Maryland. She attended the University of Maryland studying to become a nutritionist. Her favorite foods were her grandmother Sbarbaro’s spaghetti and her mother’s deep-dish apple pie. Additionally, she rarely turned down anything sweet. Her volunteer work as a candy striper at Walter Reed Hospital led her to meet her future husband. They were married on 14 Sep 1952 in Forest Hill MD at Deer Creek United Methodist Church. She worked various jobs throughout her life – hostess at the Electric Company in Brandon, florist (she loved flowers, especially daisies, tulips, and roses), Pasadena Community Church preschool teacher, medical technician, Public representative, and demonstrator for the Florida Egg Commission traveling the state educating the public about eggs and ways to prepare them, and waitressing. She had a life-long love of animals. There were many cats and dogs as pets throughout the years – they were her constant companions.

A celebration of her life will be held on Saturday, 2 September 2023 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Niceville Florida 1101 Palm Drive S at 11:00 o’clock a.m CST.

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