William Allen"Bill" Watkins

William Allen "Bill" Watkins , 72, of Louisville, Kentucky passed away on October 19, 2014. He retired from Humana and was a member of the Parkland Masonic Lodge and was a Kosair Shriner .

Bill was born on June 2, 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky to the late Clifford and Martha (Ragsdale) Watkins. He was a 1960 graduate of Dupont Manuel High School and was also a graduate of the University of Louisville School of Music.

Bill was a musician and spent his life working as an entrepreneur in the music field. He performed with the Louisville Orchestra, Louisville Bach Society, Kentucky Opera Association, and was a member of the Philharmonic Bridge. He notably played for such entertainers as James Brown, Rosemary Clooney, The Temptations and various others. Upon retiring, he spent much of his time performing with the Shrine Brass Band and The Derby City Little Big Band, as well as writing music arrangements. Other than music, the love of his life was spending time with his family.

Along with his parents he was also preceded in death by his grandparents, William Howard and Nova (Whalin) Ragsdale.

William is survived by his wife of 19 years; Barbara(Mayfield) Watkins; children; Leah Carter, Aaron (Kristian) Watkins, Andrew Watkins, Paul (Stacey) Kochersperger, Jeffrey Kochersperger, Michael (Donna) Kochersperger, and Michele Kochersperger, twelve grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, brother; Robert (Janet) Watkins, half-brother; Steven Watkins, half-sisters; Robyn Casey and Sharon Geisar.

Visitation will be from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm Friday, October 24, 2014 at Newcomer Funeral Home (235 Juneau Drive, Louisville), with his memorial service to follow at 1:00 pm.

Memorial contributions may be made to Kosair Charities and Hosparus of Louisville.

To leave a special message for the family, please visit www.NewcomerKentuckiana.com