Jane Magruder Watkins, 82, of Williamsburg, died Monday, Aug. 12, 2019, in Williamsburg.
Jane was born May 3, 1937, in Greenwood, Mississippi, to Marjorie Murphy Magruder and Douglas Neil Magruder Sr. She went to school in Indianola and Yazoo City, Mississippi. She attended Mississippi State College for Women and graduated from the University of Hawaii. She received a Master’s Degree in English Literature from the University of Mississippi, a Master’s Degree in Organizational Development from American University and studied at the University of Cambridge, England, where she completed research that led to her textbook: Appreciative Inquiry, Change at the Speed of Imagination.
Jane spent much of her life and work on social justice issues: civil rights in Mississippi and South Africa, economic development programs for women in South Africa, Kenya and many other parts of Africa, India, the Philippines and Haiti. She worked with non-profits, USAID projects, the Episcopal, Anglican, and Seventh Day Adventists overseas development programs, and taught organizational development at Pepperdine University.
When she began to use the Appreciative Inquiry methodology, her work spread to include the Dalai Lama’s government in exile, as well as corporate, non-profit, and religious institutions at home and abroad. Jane took great pride in the work of her many students, as they took what she taught them into the world to continue her work in their own way.
Jane was awarded lifetime achievement awards by the National Training Labs and the Appreciative Inquiry community for her work in teaching, mentoring, and expanding the reach of the Appreciative Inquiry method.
Jane was preceded in death by her parents; and her first husband, J. Wesley Watkins III.
Jane is survived by her husband, Ralph Kelly; children, Laurin Wittig and Gordon Watkins; grandchildren, Samantha Wittig and Alexander Wittig, Wesley Watkins and Benjamin Watkins; three great-granddaughters and one great-grandson.
She is also survived by her siblings, Alice Gordon, Anna Waid, Kem Rutledge and Neil Magruder Jr.; and three nieces and four nephews.
Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 12, at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Indianola, Mississippi. Burial will follow in Indianola Cemetery.
The family of Jane Watkins wishes to extend our sincere thanks to the staff and residents at Spring Arbor Senior Living and At Home Care Hospice, both of Williamsburg, for all their loving care of Jane and her family.
Memorials may be given to the David L. Cooperrider Center for Appreciative Inquiry, Champlain University, P.O. Box 670, Burlington, VT 05402-0670.
Share online condolences with the family at Bucktrout of Williamsburg Funeral Service.
