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John Holman Watson

John Holman Watson, 88, a long-time businessman and Dothan resident, passed away to be with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, on Thursday, April 30, 2026, at a local hospital surrounded by his loving family.

Celebration of Life services will be held at 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, May 5, 2026, at Evergreen Presbyterian Church with Reverend Christine W. Herrin officiating and Glover Funeral Home of Dothan directing. Visitation will be held from 2:00 until 4:00 p.m., Monday, May 4, 2026, at Evergreen Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Evergreen Presbyterian Church, 1103 N. Pontiac Avenue, Dothan, AL 36303, or Southeast Health Foundation – Neuro Balance Center Parkinsons Program, 1922 Fairview Avenue, Dothan, AL 36301.

Livestreaming of services will be available at, https://www.evergreenpres.church/worship.

John was born February 12, 1938, to Absolom and Mary Outlaw Watson in Skipperville, a rural Dale County community where hard work wasn’t a virtue so much as a necessity. Friends from those days called him by his middle name, Holman, and still tell stories of a boy who walked to school barefoot because his family couldn’t afford shoes. Whether every detail has grown with the retelling, the meaning has not: Watson never forgot where he came from. As a teenager, Watson worked whatever jobs were available — delivering ice, doing carpentry, roofing — then graduated a year early from Newton High School in 1955. He dreamed of playing college football and becoming an engineer. A promising running back, he turned down a scholarship offer from the University of Alabama and chose Auburn University, where he studied mechanical engineering. He hoped to make the football team as a walk-on.

The first in his family to attend college, Watson became a co-op student, working at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville and with the Corps of Engineers at Fort Rucker. He participated in advanced ROTC and graduated from Auburn in 1960 with a degree in mechanical engineering. That same year, he married Gail Pearson of Ozark and entered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a second lieutenant. He served on active duty in 1961 and 1962 during the Berlin Crisis. When his service ended, Watson and his wife returned to Dothan, where he took a job with Smith’s Inc., then the area’s largest mechanical contracting firm.

In 1966, he and two other employees bought an interest in Smith’s Inc. from James M. Smith. Four years later, they purchased the rest of the firm, aided by financing provided by Smith himself. Watson considered growing the company into a regional or national powerhouse. Instead, he made a choice that reflected both business instinct and personal priorities: he would diversify, protect against the economy’s swings, and stay close enough to home to be present for family. The experience of building Smith’s alongside trusted partners also shaped his approach to business for decades — he sought ventures with people he liked, respected, and believed added real value.

Over time, Watson became connected to a wide portfolio of enterprises. Among them were Engineered Systems, Inc., a general contracting and design firm focused on negotiated projects and design/build work for shopping centers, office buildings, warehouses and industrial facilities. In 1998, Engineered Systems worked with Auburn University to design and build the Auburn Indoor Football Practice Facility.

Those ventures, people said, were never just about profit. Watson’s greatest asset was the ability to evaluate risk and reward — and when he believed something could work, to bring in friends and partners, spreading opportunity as widely as possible. He was often described as selfless, soft-spoken and deeply concerned for others. That concern extended beyond the marketplace and into the community’s institutions. Watson served as a trustee and elder at Evergreen Presbyterian Church and served on boards including Houston Academy, the Dothan Boys Club, the Alabama Research Institute and Alabama Industrial Relations. He was named the 1996 President’s Council Volunteer of the Year for the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind and served on the institute’s board. He chaired the Dothan Area Chamber of Commerce in 1988 and was a graduate of Leadership Alabama. In 1998, he received Troy State University Dothan’s Community Service Award. John also received several Paul Harris Fellow awards through the Rotary Club.

He is preceded in death by his parents; his two brothers, Franklin D. Roosevelt Watson, and James Lamar Watson.

He is survived by his wife of almost 66 years, Gail Pearson Watson of Dothan; his daughter, Abby Jo Watson Downs (Jed) of Dothan; his son, John “Ron” Ronney Watson (Leslie) of Dothan; his loving twin sisters, Mary Andrews of Pinckard, and Martha Pate (Blann) of Newton; his six grandchildren, Watson Downs (Kendall) of Dothan, Mary Grace Downs O’Connor (Tate), James Downs of Fort Worth, TX, Sara Watson of Redding, CA, Hanna Watson of Sarasota, FL, and Rachel Watson of Dothan; his seven great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.

Serving as pallbearers will be Bobby Boone, Mark Chambers, Hayne Hollis, Jim Kelly, Jim Knighton, Wayne Palmer, Tom Parks, Dwan Pilcher, Felton Woodham.