Helen Josephine Painter was born March 5, 1947, in Hot Springs, South Dakota, the fifth of ten children of Preston and Marion Painter, cattle ranchers in the Black Hills. She graduated from Lead High School and attended Black Hills State College, where she met James (Jim) Watson; they were married nearly fifty-three years. After a series of moves the family settled in Boise, Idaho, where Helen spent thirty years as a purchasing agent for the federal government at the National Interagency Fire Center. She died at home on March 13, 2023.
