Thomas Howard Watson was born July 29, 1937 on a
farm between Wheatley and Leamington, Ontario. Since his father and
mother were both members of Wheatley United Church, and his father
particularly active, he grew up in the United Church and has maintained
a strong life-long allegiance to the denomination. It may seem natural
then that he might become a minister—as a matter of fact, Tom
remembers that a minister in the Wheatley church made reference to that
several times during his early and mid teen years—but the road to
that would have several twists and turns.
When Tom finished high school he went to work in the
Quality Control laboratory of H. J. Heinz Co. in Leamington. He and
Janice (nee Mills from Chatham, Ontario) were married in 1960 and began
raising a family. After 5 1/2 years at Heinz, he left to work for
Retail Credit Company. In the meantime the oldest two girls were
born—Maureen in 1961 and Valerie in 1963. In 1964 Tom was
promoted to supervisor in the Weston branch of the company so it was
off to Toronto for the then Watson foursome. Lorinne was born during
their 2 years in Toronto, but then, in 1966, it was off to Ottawa as
Assistant Manager. One year later, in 1967, Tom was made Branch Manager
in St. John's, Newfoundland. This time in Canada's most easterly
province was supposed to be three years but in 18 months, in 1969, the
company sent him to Sudbury as Branch Manager. Sandra, the fourth of
the Watson girls, was born there and soon it was time to move
again...on to Windsor in 1971.
Both Tom and Janice were very active in the United
Churches in the
cities in which they lived, and Tom had increasingly felt more
comfortable with the notion planted by the old minister back there in
Wheatley. In 1973, the decision was made to leave the Retail Credit
Company and study for the ministry in the United Church. But how to
support a family of 6 while he studied? A student pastoral charge would
be needed. That turned out to be the Straffordville Pastoral Charge,
made up of Straffordville, Vienna and Port Burwell, Ontario. This made
it possible to study at the University of Western Ontario in London,
majoring in Philosophy and minoring in Economics, and he graduated from
there with a BA in 1976. Then it was on to Emmanuel College in Toronto
for theology, and he graduated from there with a Master of Divinity
degree in 1979. During this entire 6 years the family lived in
Straffordville and Tom was minister to the 3 churches on that pastoral
charge.
Upon ordination in 1979, he was settled in Wawanesa,
Manitoba, where he served the three churches of Wawanesa, Nesbitt and
Brandon Hills. But in 1981 he received a call to Colborne Street United
in Brantford, where he served for 10 years. In 1991 a call was extended
by Trinity United in Guelph and he served there until retirement in
2002.
Retirement lasted for 4 1/2 years until he was
invited, in February of 2007, to become minister of Sheffield United
Church where he has continued to serve since that time.
During his life, he has also developed a number of
hobbies. Music has perhaps been the principal one. When he was 15, he
and a group of chums started a band and he was the drummer...he still
drums with various combinations of musicians in the Guelph-Kitchener
area. He also plays several other instruments, and has sung in a number
of choral groups. He is an avid reader, along with Janice loves the
summer at their trailer near Parry Sound, and can play a pretty decent
game of Bridge. He is active on the Kiwanis Music Festival, Guelph,
Committee and has been emceeing their annual concerts for the past
several years.
A lover of words, while in both Brantford and
Guelph, he was instrumental in the creation of musical comedy plays,
which became an annual highlight of church life. Because of this, he
was invited to help write the script for the Royal City Ambassadors'
annual shows in recent years.
Tom feels very fortunate to have been able to live
in so many parts of this wonderful country of Canada because he has
gained an appreciation of the differences in cultures and ways of life
embraced and enjoyed in Canada's various regions. He also feels very
fortunate to have come to know and love the people of the churches with
which he has been privileged to be a part during his ministry.