Renate Hilde Gertrude Watts

Renate Hilde Gertrude Watts, 86, of Wellsville, passed away Monday, October 22, 2018, at Wellsville Retirement Community. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 A.M., Thursday, October 25, 2018, at Dengel & Son Mortuary. Family will meet with friends from 10:00 A.M. to 11:00 A.M., Thursday prior to the service. Interment Woodlawn Cemetery, Pomona, Kansas. Renate was born April 6, 1932, in Hannover, Germany, the daughter of Carl A. and Elsa L. (Schmidt) Petersen. She was raised in Germany and came to the United States on Valentine's Day in 1958. She became a United States citizen five years later and lived in Texas, England, Montana and Colorado, before moving to Wellsville, Kansas in October of 1983. Renate graduated from High School and trained in the nursing profession in Warber, Germany from 1946 until 1952. She later obtained a Registered Nurse's license after coming to the United States and in 1970 obtained a Nursing Home Administrator's license. Renate was united in marriage to Louis E. Johnson January 14, 1963 at Helena, Montana. He preceded her in death on March 9, 1979. On December 24, 1982 she was united in marriage with Woodrow Wilson Watts at Colorado Springs, Colorado. He preceded her in death on June 21, 1997. She is also preceded in death by her parents, Carl and Elsa Petersen; a brother; sister, Elizabeth Gryzan; and stepsons, Toby Watts and Richard Watts. She is survived by stepdaughters, Betty White of Margate, Florida, Peggy Steffen of Richmond, Karen Fishburn of Lawrence, and Bonnie Pedrow of Ottawa; brother, Karl Werner Petersen of Hamburg, Germany; sixteen step grandchildren and twenty great-grandchildren. Renate worked in Warber, Germany 1955 until 1957; at the State Hospital in San Antonio, Texas from 1958 until 1959; at Glochester Hospital in England from 1960 until 1961; Great Falls, Montana Hospital from 1962 until 1963; Penrose Hospital in Colorado Springs, Colorado from 1964 until 1968; was administrator of Sunnyrest Nursing Home from 1969 until 1972 and did hospital work at Memorial Hospital in 1983. She was a member of the Wellsville United Methodist Church. Memorial contributions may be made to Wellsville United Methodist Church c/o Dengel & Son Mortuary, 235 S. Hickory, Ottawa, Kansas 66067. Family and friends are encouraged to post their condolences and memories on Renate’s Tribute Wall at www.dengelmortuary.com