Obituary: Douglas A. Watkins / Upper St. Clair township manager for 27 years
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Every few years, a new member would arrive on the commission in Upper St. Clair, usually driven there by a grievance over how things were run in the township.
Almost always, Douglas A. Watkins won them over by sheer force of competence, said his wife, Clare.
"He would always panic for a minute, and I would say, anybody that has ever come onto the board for a reason, he'd always make them understand that everything he did was by the books and for the good of the township," Mrs. Watkins recalled.
"He loved that township. Township was his life."
That life ended on New Year's Day. Mr. Watkins died after a yearlong battle with a brain tumor. He was 57.
Mr. Watkins was born and raised in Bradford, McKean County, the son of a surgeon at the local hospital. He earned a degree in political science at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
It was on spring break in 1974 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., that Mr. Watkins met his future wife, Clare Eisley, then a student at Robert Morris College.
He went on to earn a master's degree in public management at the University of Pittsburgh, and worked for a time for the South Hills Council of Governments before taking a job as assistant manager in McCandless.
A few years later, he moved to the borough manager's position in Green Tree before taking the manager's post in Plum and, in January 1982, signing on as finance director in Upper St. Clair. In six months, he moved up to the position of township manager, a job he held until he stepped down a year ago because of health problems.
As Upper St. Clair's manager, he oversaw a budget of $14.5 million, served as the township's point man for its emergency medical response unit, enforced regulations and helped oversee police, public works and the community library.
First Published January 4, 2010 11:02 am
