Val Deverl Watkins, a contented man with no guile, died May 28, 2025, in a suburb of Lisbon, Portugal. The Montpelier native had lived there with his son and a friend since February of last year. It was one of the happiest times of his life.
Val was born February 8, 1941, to Deverl and Verba Watkins. He graduated from Montpelier High School in 1959 and entered Utah State University, majoring in production management. After joining Sigma Nu Fraternity, Val participated in many extracurricular activities.
His first job was at the Atomic Energy Commission’s National Reactor Testing Station near Idaho Falls. He became chief operating officer of a team that tested ionizing production. Val dedicated his career to nuclear energy. Val married Linda Scott in 1962. It was a wonderful union, producing three sons, Korry, Justin and Adam. Linda died in a tragic car accident in December 1998. In May 2003 he married Cordia Jones Jorgensen, who brought her five children into the nest. They too had a very happy marriage. Val met both of his wives on blind dates. Val and Cordia served five years in the Columbia River Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and six years as addiction-recovery trainers.
In his teen years, Val was one of four musketeers, also including J Muir, Jerry Williams and Lee Roderick. Some of their pranks are legendary. Val found an old truck horn that sounded just like the school bell. One day J blew the horn in a hallway and threw it into a locker. All hell broke loose. Students and teachers poured out of MHS––until it was clear there was no fire. Principal Harold Phillips went locker to locker looking for the offending horn. Finally, he opened Charlie Sorensen’s locker and there it was. Mr. Phillips grabbed poor Charlie and hauled him into his office as he protested, “But Mr. Phillips, I play the saxophone.”
Val retired from the AEC after 25 years and joined a series of companies restoring nuclear waste sites. One of the family’s moves was to Richmond, Washington, in the Tri-Cities area, whose athletic teams are the Bombers and their mascot a mushroom cloud. In his last years, Val was in poor health and lived in an assisted-care facility in Salt Lake Valley. One day his son Adam made a strange suggestion: move to Portugal in southern Europe, a calm, friendly country with a temperate climate. That’s exactly what Val, Adam and a friend did. They built a beautiful white-stucco home with a swimming pool.
The move improved Val’s health and extended his life. A doctor discovered he had an ailment that U.S. doctors had missed.
Val is survived by his three sons, five stepchildren, and at least 17 grandchildren. This fall his ashes will be spread over the graves of his two beloved wives.