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Sister Marian Watkins, SNJM
Sister Robert Marion
March 14, 1936 – May 14, 2026
Sister Marian Watkins, SNJM departed this life on May 14, 2026 in Lake Oswego, Oregon.
Sister Marian celebrated 90 years of life and 69 years of her religious profession.
A Mass of Resurrection will be held on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, in the Chapel of the Holy Names in Lake Oswego, Oregon.
Her burial will follow at Holy Names Cemetery in Marylhurst, Oregon.
Sister Marian Watkins, SNJM
Sister Robert Marion
March 14, 1936 – May 14, 2026
Sister Marian Watkins, SNJM, 90, died on May 14 at Mary’s Woods at Marylhurst, Lake Oswego, Oregon. The Mass of Resurrection is Tuesday, June 9, 11 am, Chapel of the Holy Names, Marylhurst, Oregon. Burial follows at nearby Holy Names Cemetery.
Daughter of Ford and Marjorie Warwick Watkins, Marian was born March 14, 1936, in Tillamook, Oregon, and lived in Oregon City, Salem and Portland with her parents and siblings Edward, Carol and Robert.
She met the Holy Names Sisters for the first time at St. Joseph Grade School in Salem. After a time in Portland and a return to Salem, she again encountered the Holy Names Sisters, attending their high school, Sacred Heart Academy, through her junior year. After a move back to Portland, she completed her senior year at Holy Child Academy. During high school, Marian excelled as an all-star basketball player in the Catholic school league in Western Oregon.
Following her graduation, Marian spent a year training at St. Vincent Hospital in Northwest Portland. The next year, 1955, Marian entered the Holy Names Novitiate at Marylhurst, eventually receiving the religious name Sister Robert Marion.
Her hospital experience shaped her early career, which included over 17 years assisting in the Sisters’ Care Center at Marylhurst. She also spent time working in SNJM schools in Bend and Cottage Grove, assisting in a variety of ways, from supporting students in the classroom and sharing her love of sports, to utilizing her marvelous array of practical skills like building and reupholstering furniture. While in Bend, she also attended nursing courses at Central Oregon Community College.
Over the years, Marian developed a special talent for linking others with services, employment and education. When refugees began arriving from Vietnam in the 1970s, she felt called to welcome them and help them transition to new lives in Oregon. Direct service would become a focus of her ministry into the future, always finding people in need to support whether it was through formal avenues or simply by making her own connections to provide for immediate needs.
From 1992–2003 Marian was part of the staff of the newly opened YMCA’s Children’s Holladay Center in Portland’s Lloyd District. It was part of a nationwide movement for high-quality, workplace accessible early development daycare and childcare facilities.
Later she volunteered for many years at Northeast Portland’s Community Transitions School helping to meet the needs of students, ages 4 to 14, coming from families living in homeless and domestic violence shelters, cheap motels and even outside in the family car.
In 2016 Marian was honored by the Mother and Child Education Center for her long years of service. Executive Director Maura White said, “Marian has been a long-time supporter of our efforts to help mothers with basic necessities and support. We smile every time she walks through the door.”
Marian later went on to work with the elderly community of St. Ignatius Parish in Southeast Portland, fitting it in with another of her ministries—driver on demand. She also continued with her ministry of picking up food, clothing and other items and delivering them to area nonprofits.
Her final ministry was similar outreach from Holy Redeemer Parish in North Portland, where she continued to work with her network of friends to assist people in need connecting surplus food, clothing and other necessities with the variety of nonprofits she had supported over the years.
Marian was a woman dedicated to service. She did whatever needed to be done, whenever and wherever the Community asked, and in her later years where she noticed a need. She had a “can do” spirit with an ability to think and act outside of structures to simply help people. She was animated by her faith in the loving God, her love for and devotion to the Community, her family and friends.
A Holy Names Sister for 68 years, Marian was predeceased by her older brother Edward Watkins. She is survived by her younger siblings, Carol DaValle and Robert Watkins, her nieces and nephews, and the members of her religious community. Remembrances may be made to Sisters of the Holy Names, PO Box 398, Marylhurst, OR 97036 or online at www.snjmusontario.org/donate.