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Rev. Jack Watson
John “Jack” Allan Watson, 82 of Columbus, Ohio passed from this life on July 27th due to complications from pneumonia.
Jack was born June 26, 1938, in Detroit, Michigan. As a young boy, he was to discover his life-long hobby as an amateur magician after seeing Harry Blackstone perform on stage. He delighted in mystifying his friends, family, and later for his children’s classrooms and grandchildren. He never divulged his magic secrets.
It was 1956 as a freshman at Wheaton College that Jack met Mary Strawbridge, a sophomore; they were thrown together to teach Sunday school for an inner-city church on the South Side of Chicago. Jack was smitten with Mary, her smile, her earnest Christian faith, and those beautiful brown eyes, “I’ll never love blue eyes again.” They married in June 1960.
After the wedding, Jack attended Wheaton Graduate School while Mary taught school, then the pair headed to Princeton Theological Seminary where Jack earned his Master of Divinity. Next, Jack and Mary moved to Kentland, Indiana, where Jack was pastor at First Presbyterian Church. The first three Watson boys were born in quick succession in the tiny county hospital in Brook, Indiana- Paul, Stephen, and Mark.
From Indiana, the Watson family embarked on a grand adventure to Aberdeen, Scotland where Jack earned his Masters of Theology degree, and Mary actively adjusted to life as a Scottish mum with three small boys.
In 1970 they began a fruitful thirty-year call at Bethel Presbyterian Church in Columbus, Ohio. In 1975 they welcomed the fourth and final Watson boy, Philip. During his time of leadership at Bethel, Jack instituted the Bethel Bible Study Series that led more than 150 people in serious Bible study and saw Bethel receive more than 700 members. The family traveled on mission trips that included Guatemala, Morocco, Haiti, and Greece.
In June 2003 the congregation they held so dear, Bethel Presbyterian Church, grandly celebrated Jack’s retirement after thirty years of service and named him Pastor Emeritus. Over the years Paul, Mark, and Phil married and another generation of Watson children arrived, showing Jack, “Our boys are all so different, with their lovely wives and our grandchildren, I can truly say that God loves variety.”
Jack was a devoted scholar; his most treasured subject was the life and works of Christian author C.S. Lewis. A proud Scot he was often sporting his Watson tartan tie and a wistful smile always appeared when bagpipes played. His faithfulness to serving God continued in retirement, serving as dean of Ohio Central Bible College.
Jack is survived by his wife Mary, sister Margaret Ann Dewit, sons Stephen, Mark, and Philip, daughter in laws Leah and Kaitlin, and grandchildren Abigail, Matthew, Benjamin, Clara, Mara, Vivian, and Nathanael. He was preceded in death by his son Paul and granddaughter Grace.
“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” C.S. Lewis Of all the memories and legacies Jack leaves behind, he will be most remembered for his steadfast faith and love for it was the foundation for his every breath.