Johnnie DeLinda Watson

Johnnie DeLinda Watson was born to the union of Johnny and Josie B. Dixon Watson on September 27, 1958 in Jackson, Mississippi. She began singing at the age of two. The family relocated to Kankakee, Illinois, and she joined Morning Star Baptist Church where she served as a soloist and sang in the adult choir, as well as taught vacation Bible school with Addie Ervin. DeLinda won several local and regional awards in gospel music and also traveled with renowned artists such as Albertina Walker, Angela Spivey, Ethel Holloway, Reverend Clay Evans, Kevin Lennox, the Thompson Community Singers and Commissioned. DeLinda graduated from Westview High School and attended Kankakee Community College. She worked as a crew member at McDonald’s for 16 years and was also an awesome worker for the food pantry, Center of Hope, helping others in need, as was her nurturing spirit. She was the type of person who never met a stranger, with her welcoming smile, sass and pizazz. Her voice was loved by many and her singing was requested at weddings, funerals and events. She enjoyed gardening and keeping her neighborhood clean. She especially loved her parents, sisters, and her only brother “Smoke.” DeLinda had a very personal relationship with her Lord and Savior and recognized Him as the head of her life and remained a faithful servant her entire life. Her life was a testimony of His healing touch restoring her body. After a while she attended Second Baptist Church, but returned to her home of Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church, August 7, 2011. DeLinda leaves to cherish her memory, her sons, Issaclerome Watson and Johnny Watson (Yolissa Jackson) both of Kankakee, IL; her brother, Jimmie Lee (Nancy) Dixon of Minnetonka, MN, her sister, Kathlyn Ann Miller of Peoria, IL; her stepmother, Bernice Watson of Kankakee, IL; her aunts, Rosie Lee Nelson of Jackson, MS, Christine (Rev. Roger) Sykes of Kankakee, IL, Katherine (Harry) Edmond of Minneapolis, MN and Carrie (Robert) Williams of Gary, IN; uncles, George T. (Patricia) Dixon and Rev. Roosevelt Dixon, both of Gary, IN; grandson Jeremiah Watson; godchildren, Soni Lloyd of St. Louis, MO and Lovely Richardson of Atlanta, GA; her very close friends, Priscilla Jones and Melisha Turner, both of Minneapolis, MN, Brenda Wells, Mary Williams and Shirley Powell, all of Kankakee, IL and Maxine Montgomery of St. Louis, MO, and numerous cousins, extended family and friends. Waiting to greet her at Heaven’s gates are her parents, Johnny and Josie Watson; sisters, Sybil Watson and Willie Bell Daniels; her grandson, Davontae Wallace and close friend, Johnnie Poindexter Callum.

Tributes

Johnnie DeLinda Watson

September 27, 1958 - April 24, 2021