Raymond Ew Watts

Raymond Drew Watts passed away peacefully on August 23, 2018. Ray was born on September 8, 1932, in Philadelphia, PA, to the Drs. Helen Spence Watts and Charles Raymond Watts.
He grew up in West Hartford, CT, where his parents were both practicing physicians. Ray graduated from The Kingsford School, West Hartford, CT and then received a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University, School of Hotel Administration, Ithaca, NY, in January 1956. He married Madelene Harvey Ondosik on June 15, 1954. Subsequently, they moved to Texas with Allied Stores where he worked with Helen Corbitt. Two years later, Ray became General Manager of The Houston Club, where he worked for over 20 years. Afterwards, he was the General Manager of the Riverside Yacht Club in Riverside, CT. He was a wine consultant in the Houston area after retirement from the club management industry. As an active alumnus at Cornell University, Ray served on the University Council, the University’s Secondary Schools Committee, the Curriculum and Advisory Committee, and the TRIAD Committee for the Hotel School. Hospitality education was important to him and he enjoyed his role as an Associate Professor at The University of Houston Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management. He was a guest lecturer at the Hotel Schools at Cornell University, Florida International University and Wisconsin-Stout University. Ray was active in the Club Managers Association of America, serving as a director 1975-1985 and as President in 1983. He was a trustee of The Woodlands Medical Center, Inc., The Woodlands, TX, and a member of the Joint Policy and Oversight Committee, and the Life Enhancement Committee (a joint project of The Woodlands Medical Center and Baylor College of Medicine). He served on The Woodlands Community Hospital Board as Director and Treasurer. Ray was a past member of the Rotary Club of Houston, Escoffier Wine and Food Society and Bailli Honoraire of Houston Chaine des Rotisseurs. He was a member of The Church of St. John the Divine. Ray volunteered in many of his daughters’ activities, especially with The Dad’s Club Swim Team. An avid gardener, Ray enjoyed the outdoors and spending time with family and friends at Harbor Town at Lake Conroe and at his country home in Connecticut.
He was preceded in death by his loving wife of 60 years, Madelene (Bunny) Watts of Willis, TX; his parents, Dr. Helen Spence Watts and Dr. Charles Raymond Watts of West Hartford, CT; his sister, Dr. Lorraine Watts Klouw of Vero Beach, FL, and sister-in-law Florence Ondosik Davenport of Blue Bell, PA. Ray is survived by his three daughters and their families who loved him dearly, Sarah McMurrey and husband James Douglas McMurrey, Jr., Kim Jameson and husband Thomas Glenn Jameson, and Alison Tennant and husband James Browder Tennant; grandchildren James Douglas McMurrey, III and wife Gwendolyn, Madelene Leigh McMurrey, Grace Caroline Anderson, Collier Spence Anderson and wife Danielle, Madelene Alexandra Tennant, and James Borden Tennant and wife Louise; great-grandson Rekland Lanier Anderson, all of Houston; and step-grandchildren, Lee Kurth Jameson of Los Angeles, CA, and Robert Butler Jameson of Austin, TX. He is also survived by his brother-in-law, Charles F. Davenport, of Blue Bell, PA, and nephews, John Garrett Klouw of Hoffman Estates, IL, and The Reverend Robert Klouw of Bradford, PA.
A private memorial service was held on September 11, 2018, in the Chapel of St. John the Divine. The family extends their gratitude to the clergy of St. John the Divine and his caregivers.