Mrs. Kathleen Watson Drake, age 83, of Fernandina Beach, Fla., passed away early Monday morning, June 27, 2016, at Kitty Askins Hospice Center in Goldsboro, NC.

Born in Jesup, Georgia March 12, 1933, Mrs. Drake was one of nine children born to the late James Cleveland Watson and Dora Hall Watson. She graduated from Wayne County High School before working for a short time with Southern Bell Telephone Company. In 1952 she met the love of her life, Vernon Neil "Bub" Drake, whom she would marry on May 16, 1953. The newlyweds moved to Fernandina Beach in 1955 as Mr. Drake sought employment by joining the land surveying firm of Angus and Associates. The Drakes made Fernandina their home, raising their two sons on Amelia Island. After her sons started school, she went back to work for Fernandina Federal Savings and Loan which eventually became Anchor Savings Bank, from which she retired in 1997. After retiring from the bank, she went to work with her husband in the survey office. They both retired permanently in 2000.

Mrs. Drake was a long-time member of Five Points Baptist Church in Fernandina Beach, joining in 1959 where she served faithfully until declining health prevented her attendance the past several years.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband of 62 years, Vernon Neil "Bub" Drake, who died September 16, 2015. She was also preceded in death by four sisters, Elizabeth O'Neal, Estelle Crosby, Lilla Bell Westberry, and Tilly Copeland, and two brothers, Roscoe Watson and Robert Watson.

She leaves behind her two sons, Kenneth N. Drake and his wife, Louise, of Yulee, FL, and Kevin Drake and his wife, Sissy, of Goldsboro, NC; five grandchildren, Karla Delaine Johnston (Charles), Krista René Crews (Mark), Brenton Kirk Drake (Celcris), Aaron Bryant Drake, and Kari Laree Drake; six great-grandchildren, Logan Andrew Adkins (Danielle), Hunter Lewis Banknell, Bryanna Elizabeth Banknell, Laurie Brooke Johnston, Callie Savannah Johnston, and Brenton Kirk Drake II; and a great-great-grandson, Tate Andrew Adkins. Mrs. Drake also leaves behind two sisters, Thelma Stephens and Claudia Mae Nesmith, along with numerous nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be held in the Chapel of Sammons Funeral Home, Soperton, at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, July 2, with the Pastor Kevin Drake officiating. She will be laid to rest beside her husband in the family section of Poplar Springs United Methodist Church Cemetery, Adrian, GA.

A visitation will be held one hour prior to the service at the funeral home.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Kitty Askins Hospice Center, Goldsboro, NC, 107 Handley Park Court, Goldsboro, NC, 27534 or Hephzibah Baptist Church Fellowship Building fund, 4633 US Highway 70 E, Princeton, NC, 27569.