Services for Thelma J. Watson will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Vicksburg City Auditorium with the Rev. Arnita M. Spencer officiating. Interment will follow at Cedar Hill Cemetery under the direction of W.H. Jefferson Funeral Home. Visitation will be from 6 until 8 p.m. Thursday at Bethel A.M.E. Church.

Mrs. Watson died Friday, March 23, 2012, at River Region Medical Center. She was 88.

She was a graduate of Magnolia High School, Campbell College and Alcorn Agricultural & Mechanical College, where she received a Bachelor of Science degree. She also completed additional studies at Southern University and Mississippi State University.

Mrs. Watson was a longtime educator in the Vicksburg schools. She was named Star Teacher of the Year in 1982 and received the Ebony Award and American Legion Award, both for outstanding education. She had received a number of awards and recognition from area clubs and organizations, including Omicron Rho Lambda chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, Mu Xi Omega chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, Vicksburg-Warren Alcorn State Alumni chapter, Port City Kiwanis and Les Soeurs Charmantes.

She was a charter member of Vicksburg Homecoming Benevolent Club and was the oldest living member of the Bethel A.M.E. Church.

Mrs. Watson was preceded in death by her parents, James Henry and the Rev. Thelma S. Watson; three brothers, James Henry Watson Jr., Herschel Watson and Alvin Watson; and two sisters, Martha Love and Bernadette Yates.

She is survived by three sons, Lerris A. Cooper of Minneapolis, Lamar M. Cooper of Eden Prairie, Minn., and Lionel B. Cooper of Vicksburg; two brothers, Leon Watson of Oakland, Calif., and Ruben Watson of Shaw, Miss.; two sisters, Hazel Hill of Chicago and Doris Adams-Jackson of Fontana, Calif.; four grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and nieces, nephews, cousins and other relatives.

Memorials may be made to Bethel A.M.E. Church.