Dorothy Alice Demandre Watson was born on August 8, 1934 in Home Place, La. Franklin D. Roosevelt was president, Babe Ruth of the Yankees announced his last season of baseball, and 1934 marked the first appearance of Donald Duck in the cartoon “The Wise Little Hen.” Daughter of Lilian and Alexander Demandre, Dorothy was affectionately known as Dot to family and friends. Sisters Lorraine, Gladys, Helen, and Hortense, along with brothers Clarence and Hollis, filled the large two-story house fronting the Mississippi River, where occasional stalks of ripe bananas or coconuts were washed up on the Batture—a boon from ships sorting through perishable cargo destined for the Port of New Orleans. Dot was 11 years old when WWII ended for the US. Captured German soldiers, POWs, were a common sight in Port Sulphur as the camp was situated near her home. She nonchalantly shared stories of watching them go off to work on nearby farms, cutting grass on the levees, and of going to the camp once with her mother to trade food for a carved palm tree made by a prisoner. Dorothy married William James Watson, a ‘stump jumper’ from Mississippi, and they had four children: Rose, Elizabeth, John, and Cecile. She was a homemaker for her entire life, with the exception of one week when she worked at McDonald’s. She did love to bake, and whiskey-soaked fruit cakes were her specialty and were months in the making. Children were flatly denied these eightyproof bombs served during the holidays. The baking of these cakes began in September with a trek to Gretna, shopping at Schwegmann Brothers Supermarket. Candied cherries, red and green; candied pineapple, citron, ginger, dried apricots, and pecans were purchased along with flour, vanilla, and three fifths of Schwegmann brand whiskey! Dot was the originator of the traveling First Communion Suit used by every grandson and neighborhood Catholic boy from Port Sulphur to Empire making their First Holy Communion. A three-piece white suit was initially purchased to include a white belt, white button-down shirt, white bow tie, white socks, and white shoes that completed the ensemble. No matter the size of the boy, the suit was taken in or let out, and it always fit. The traveling suit was worn by every grandson—Jay and Avery Bulot, Justin Amos, Mitchel, and James Heard—and eventually had a life of its own, spending time with cousins and family friends. Kelli Bulot Marinovich, being the only granddaughter, was lucky enough to get her own communion dress! The suit was carefully packed away and passed on year after year until its loss during Hurricane Katrina. It was in Dot’s nature to give, and that is what made her happiest. Since 2019, Dot resided in Riverbend Nursing Home. Even when she could no longer give as she once did, she still found ways to spread joy. On a regular basis, she made crafts or colored pictures and sent them in the mail or had them hand-delivered with short notes to her great-grandkids, letting them know they were in her thoughts. She will be sorely missed.