Watson, Eugenie Madden's Obituary
Eugenie Madden Watson May 1, 1938 - May 11, 2025
Eugenie Madden Watson, a force of nature with a wealth of friends, passed away May 11, not long after celebrating her 87th birthday during an event-filled week that included a San Francisco lunch and a Palo Alto Players’ performance.
Eugenie dedicated more than five decades of her life to the Palo Alto Players, serving on the board, many as board president. “Her leadership, advocacy and unwavering belief in this company were instrumental to our success,” said Elizabeth Santana, managing director.
Eugenie’s late husband, Richard Watson, was acting in a Players’ production when they met. They were married in1964 and made their home in Los Altos.
Eugenie was born on May 1, 1938, in Fresno to Jean Thompson Mattei and T. Chester Madden. She was graduated from Fresno High School and Fresno State, where she was active in student government and president of Kappa Alpha Theta. After college, she spent a year in London working at Harrods before moving to San Francisco and a job at I. Magnin. Soon after, she was managing the gift department at I. Magnin at the Stanford Shopping Center.
A better opportunity beckoned and she became manager of the Peninsula Volunteers’ Turnabout Shop, a non-profit resale shop in Palo Alto that supported Little House Activity Center. During her three-decade tenure, she earned quite the reputation and befriended almost everyone who either volunteered or shopped there. She loved sailing, playing bridge, traveling, the Santa Fe Opera and the Carmel Bach Festival
She is survived by her sister and brother-in-law, Meredith and Charlie Moore of Sunnyvale, and her niece and family, Eugenie Ann and Brian Popper and children Finn, Abigail and Laurel.
A memorial service will be held at noon June 19 at Skylawn Memorial Park with a reception to follow at Café Vitale, 987 Fremont Ave., Los Altos. To honor Eugenie’s memory, donations may be made to the Watson Legacy Fund, c/o Palo Alto Players, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto 94301.
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