Loretta Watts Bowen

WALNUT COVE — Loretta Watts Bowen, 91, went home to be with the Lord Sunday, July 5, 2026, in the Joan & Howard Woltz Hospice Home in Dobson following long battles with diabetes and congestive heart failure.

Born March 3, 1935, in Stokes County, she was the only daughter of the late Ila Young and Colonel Grant Watts and grew up in the Walnut Cove-Germanton area. She returned to Walnut Cove in 2024, after living almost four decades in King, to reside in the Walnut Ridge Assisted Living facility.

Mrs. Bowen attended Germanton High School.

A blind date, at the behest of an aunt, resulted in an enduring romance with the late Johnny Bowen whom she married on March 7, 1953, in Danbury. They set up housekeeping in Tobaccoville before moving to Wallburg and later King. They celebrated their 60th anniversary before Johnny passed in 2013.

Mrs. Bowen was employed at Thomasville Furniture in the 1970s and later Winston Printing. She was a member of the King Missionary Baptist Church and faithfully attended services until she relocated to Walnut Ridge.

She was quite appreciative of all the staff at Walnut Ridge and the care they gave her over the last two years.

In addition to her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by a brother, C. Richard Watts.

She is survived by daughters, Delores Harris of Wallburg and Rebecca (Clarence) Kinley of Lexington; and sons Stanley (Karen) Bowen of Wallburg, Charles (Diane) Bowen of Lexington and Phillip (Gena) Bowen of Walnut Cove; grandsons, Derrick Potter of Linwood, Clarence Lee Kinley of Willow Springs, David Bowen of Clemmons and Nathan Bowen of Lexington; granddaughters Ashley Milam of Welcome, April Campbell of Wallburg, Ali Shoaf of Lexington, Carlie Bowen of Lexington and Sierra Caudle of Madison; many great-grandchildren; a brother, Hanes Watts of Germanton; special brothers-in-law and sister-in-law Albert Angel of Pfafftown, and Tony and Elaine Bowen of Tobaccoville; and several nieces and nephews.

A funeral service will be conducted at 11 a.m. Wednesday, July 8, 2026, at Hayworth-Miller Funeral Home in Rural Hall with the Rev. Albert Angel officiating. Burial will follow at King Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery. The family will receive friends an hour prior to the service beginning at 10 a.m. at the funeral home.

Memorial donations may be made to the hospice of your choice, or to Mountain Valley Hospice, P.O. Box 325, Dobson, NC 27017, or the Joan & Howard Woltz Hospice Home, 945 Zephyr Road, Dobson, NC 27017.