‘They were both just so incredibly kind’: Family mourns mother, daughter killed in crash
When Lana Watson of Shiloh heard about a woman living in a tent off U.S. 50 this winter, she immediately went over to see if she could help the woman find shelter.
It was this type of concern for others that Watson’s husband, Bob Watson, said was emblematic of his wife.
“Lana was a very compassionate, caring person,” Bob Watson said as he talked about the memories he has of his wife, who died Saturday night along with her mother, Carol Isbell, in a three-vehicle crash on Hartman Lane in Shiloh. The crash remains under investigation, police said Thursday.
The funeral for Lana Watson, 60, was at 11 a.m. Friday at First Baptist Church in O’Fallon, while the funeral for Carol Isbell, 82, will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Greiner Funeral Home in Terre Haute, Indiana.
In talking about Lana’s visit with the woman living in a tent, Bob said that the person decided to stay there instead of going to a shelter. However, when temperatures plummeted below zero last month, Lana returned to the site. She heard from employees at a nearby convenience store that the homeless woman had left the area.
“Lana still had to go and make a check a third time just to make sure because it was so cold,” he said.
“That was her nature. She was going to take her to a shelter, do whatever to get her help.”
Lana was no stranger to social work.
She spent 38 years in social services and was the senior director of short-term transitions programs at the St. Louis-based St. Patrick Center, which helps homeless people.
“It wasn’t just a job for her,” Bob said. “She very much loved the Lord. Her love for God, for Jesus.”
At the time of the crash, Lana was driving her mother home.
Bob said Carol Isbell, who moved to an assisted living center in Shiloh last summer after moving from Indiana, had wanted to see her two great-children on Saturday.
Part of the day included Lana showing her 3-year-old grandson how to cook potatoes and cookies.
Her mother had asked to come over and see her great-grandchildren while they were in town on a trip from their home in Joplin, Missouri.
“She just wanted to make sure she was able to see them while they were here,” Bob said. “That was important to her.”
It was Robert Watson Jr.’s son and 1-year-old daughter that Lana and Carol saw on Saturday.
“Both Grandma and Mom were super sacrificial,” Robert said. “They were always taking care of things
“They constantly wanted to make sure other people were taken care of before they ever thought about themselves. They were both just so incredibly kind.”
Robert added, “My mom made the best apple pie in the world.”
He would have that on his birthday instead of cake. “She would just light up that I loved eating her apple pie,” he said.
Caleb Watson, of Wichita, Kansas, the youngest of Bob and Lana’s two sons, was able to see his mother last week.
“I think the thing that I’ll miss the most are just the everyday things,” Caleb said of his mother. “Her encouraging and loving smile.”
He said his mother was known for her daily hugs.
“Whenever she would give her super warm and caring hugs, I would just squeeze her until she wanted me to stop. And she loved it,” he said.
And Bob, Robert and Caleb all followed a request Lana had first made after she met Bob at Ozark Christian College in Joplin, Missouri.
Lana wanted them to hug and say they loved each other when they parted ways.
“She made that something we all did as a family,” Bob said.
And on Saturday night, Bob said he followed tradition.
“We both said, ‘I love you,’” he said as he took a moment to collect himself. “Those were my last words with her.”
