John Watkins of Hope, known to all his Prescott friends he grew up with as John Ed, died Monday, September 28, 2026, at the Southwest Arkansas Regional Medical Center in Hope. His health in the last several months had deteriorated greatly. He made it clear he was more than ready.
John Ed was born in Springfield, MO on March 4, 1948, to Osborne Worthington (O.W.) Watkins and Alna Ritchey Watkins. The Watkins family resided in Harrison.
In 1950, the Watkins family moved to Prescott where his father would become the manager of the Prescott & Northwestern Railroad. This connection to railroads lived in John Ed the rest of his life as he had an extensive model railroad in his house as well as many books on the subject.
When the Watkins family moved to Prescott, they continued their membership as Presbyterians. John Ed remained a loyal and dedicated member of the Presbyterian Church wherever his job took him. He was active in the Presbytery of the Pines, the governing body for the Presbyterian Church of north Louisiana and southern Arkansas.
To say John Ed was a passionate Prescott Curley Wolf is a gigantic understatement. He had to have been one of the first Prescott students to play in both the band and play football at the same time. While an avid Razorback fan and multi-decade season ticket holder, his heart was as a Curley Wolf. His other right of Curley Wolf passage, and well known by other Prescott sporting event attendees, was his boisterous yelling and screaming at football and basketball referees for their obvious bad calls.
Proudly a member of the Prescott High School class of 1966, he entered Southern State College, transferring to the U of A in 1968 to complete his civil engineering degree. He went to work for the Arkansas Highway Department where he worked for 28 years, this being the only full-time employer he ever had out of college. He retired as the resident engineer of the Hope Highway Department office and elected to remain in Hope.
In retirement, he was involved in many Hope projects. He used his railroad knowledge to help lead the project to get Amtrak service to Hope. While stationed in Wynne, he learned to fly and used that skillset to help at the Hope Airport. John Ed was active in Rotary and created a nursing scholarship at UAHT. And he helped solve all the same world problems several days a week at Sheba’s with his other retired problem solvers.
Years after he retired, John Ed went to work on a part-time basis for his good high school friend, Sid Dickerson who owned Steel Construction Group (SCG). His picture is still listed on the company website. Some of his SCG duties required several trips to China, Korea and Canada.
Besides his parents, John Ed is predeceased by his sister, Sally Jo Horm. He is survived by his two nieces, Julie Horm and Laura Horm, both of the Pensacola FL area, a very special cousin, Don Walker of Springdale AR and several cousins and many friends.
A service will be held at Brazzel-Oakcrest Funeral Home in Hope on Thursday, October 29, 2026, with visitation at 10am and a service to follow at 11am. His ashes will be interned at the Maplewood Cemetery in Harrison on Friday, October 30 at 11am. Maplewood Cemetery is where his parents are buried and a favorite place of John Ed’s.
Memorials are requested to be made to the Watkins Nursing Scholarship at the UAHT Foundation in his memory, 2500 South Main Street, Hope, AR 71801.
Arrangements and services under the direction of Brazzel-Oakcrest Funeral Home, The Funeral Home of Hope, Ben Brazzel, Director, and Holt Memorial Chapel of Harrison.