Col. Joe Nelson Watson USAF retired, was born in Dallas Texas on January 29, 1934 and went home to see his Lord Jesus Christ on August 29, 2011. He was 77 years old. Col. Joe had three main treasures and passions during his lifetime. The first was knowing his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Father and the Holy Ghost. The second was his family, including his wife Judy, who survives him after 52 years of a wonderful marriage, and his four sons, Patrick Michael Watson, Daniel Wayne Watson, Joseph Brian Watson, and Joshua Brown. He also had the honor of knowing a young lady named Lisa Dammann, who adopted him as her second father. He had five grandsons, Guy, Jean-Luc, Pascal, Andre, and Matthew; one granddaughter, Lily Judith; and three wonderful daughter-in-laws, Diccie, Claire and Susan. All survive him, as well as his brother, Patrick Hembey Watson and Patrick s wife, Glenda Ann. He is also survived by his mother-in-law, Nora Bokelman. He is predeceased by his mother, Marie Hembey Watson Essary; his father, Joe Watson; his stepfather Arved J Essary; and two grandchildren, Paul and Sylvia. The third treasure in his life was all the friends he acquired and still has from all over the world. He ended up with hundreds of friends both here and in many foreign countries. They gave him the strength to continue no matter how bad the times were. They are very good people, each and every one of them and he loved all from the bottom of his heart. Joe graduated from Sunset High School in Dallas in 1952, and from Texas A&M with a degree in Engineering in 1957. He later became fully qualified as an astronomical and aeronautical engineer for the Air Force. He completed both the Air Force Command and Staff School, as well as the Senior Management Course of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. Col. Joe had a wonderful career. He started out as an airman second class and retired as a full colonel. In the Air Force, he had several outstanding jobs. In the early 1960s, he was in charge of an orbiting satellite program that collected intelligence data for the Air Force. He was also the Division Chief in charge of development and testing of all air-to-air and air-to-ground smart bombs and missiles (including GPS and laser guided systems) at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. He was a test engineer for the high-speed rocket sled track in New Mexico. He served three tours at Arnold Air Force Base in Tullahoma, Tennessee, and was the Air Force Chief of the Von Karman Facility for some time there. After retiring, Joe backpacked over 6000 miles. He thru-hiked the 2000-mile Appalachian Trail In 1986 from Springer Mountain, Georgia to Mount Katahdin, Maine. He also hiked over 700 miles along the continental divide through New Mexico, 300 miles across Australia and on many hikes in New Zealand. That is where he got his trail name of Col. Joe . Joe also was a horse lover. He got his first horse when he was five years old and never outgrew the cowboy instinct. He loved to trail ride all over the place, including Canada. He rode the backcountry and pulled mules with his friend Ian Copithorne, and counted over 22 grizzlies in the wilds. Joe owned and bred horses at his farm in Tullahoma, Tennessee. Col. Joe had numerous other hobbies and activities such as painting watercolors, raising beefalo, growing Christmas trees, taking photos, raising cattle, and building houses, to name a few. He voluntarily served as the executive director at the AEDC federal credit union, a junior officer career counselor, and as a Boy Scout troop leader. He was a member of Faith Lutheran Church in Tullahoma and was a past president of the church and served as the evangelism director for 10 years, where he served honorably and faithfully. Joe Watson s funeral will be held at Faith Lutheran Church at 101 Bragg Circle at 4pm on Sunday, September 3, with visitation at the church one hour prior to the service. A dinner will be held at the church after the service. Interment with full military honors will be held at 10:30 AM Tuesday, September 6, 2011 at Delight Cemetery under the direction of Welch Funeral Home of Arkadelphia. In lieu of flowers, Joe made the following request: I have a special place where I would like memorials to go. I wish them to be designated to help build a nice new LED sign in front of Faith Lutheran Church at 101 Bragg Circle, Tullahoma, TN 37388. I believe it will really help for our church to proclaim the gospel message of Jesus Christ by word and deed to every person.