Marian Elsie “Mimi” Wattron, 88, of Jacksonville, Florida, passed away on October 30, 2026.
Mimi was born on July 11, 1938, in New York City to Mildred Dorintha and Hubert Henry Harms. Her family lived in New York, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina before settling in Florida when she was in the fifth grade. She graduated from Palm Beach High School in West Palm Beach. She began studying nursing at the University of Florida before switching to education at Jacksonville University, where she earned her degree.
She devoted thirty years to teaching grade school, first at San Mateo Elementary beginning in 1970, and then at Woodland Acres Elementary from 1982. She often paid for classroom supplies herself, and she took great joy in her students and her work.
Mimi married Ervin Alphus Lovett in 1959, and they had four children. In 1979 she married Theodore N. “Ted” Wattron, and they had a daughter. Together, she and Ted traveled the country each summer and visited 48 states. Anyone who knew them also knew the sound of Mimi saying “TN!” in loving disbelief at whatever Ted had just done. She also loved Maine, New Orleans, reading, music, and dance.
Known as classy, loyal, and giving, Mimi was a woman of great generosity. She never missed a birthday and always sent or delivered a card. She taught her family the value of education and the importance of being strong and moving forward. Her family will remember her as the glue that held them together.
She is survived by her children Jeffrey Lovett, Lisa Wilkinson, Lori Copeland, Steven Lovett, and Jennifer Wattron; Antonella Parker, whom she loved as a daughter; her sisters, Marilyn Brander, Lorraine Bishop, and Louise Jenkins; eight grandchildren, Brandon Wilkinson, Alex Moore, Gabrielle Lovett, Tyler Lovett, Fallon Graves, Teagan Graves, Sullivan Graves, and Penn Graves; and her great-granddaughter, Vivian Wilkinson. She was preceded in death by her husband, Ted, in March 2016; and by her parents.
A visitation will be held at 10:00 a.m., followed by a service at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, November 12, 2026, at Ponte Vedra Valley Funeral Home, with a reception to follow.
Mimi loved being with her family any chance she got, and found her greatest joy in giving to others.
