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Nor would she let friends go without. When Richards' son Howard graduated from day care, Watkins altered the too-big outfit his mother had bought.

"She made sure my son had a nice blue suit," Richards said.

Watkins divorced years too late, her family says now. But she filled her life with distractions long after leaving the restaurant around the early 1980s.

She led children's choirs, taught and played guitar. Watkins showed grandson Jason Harrod his first chords, and he went on to record three records and win in the bluegrass category at the annual mountain show MerleFest.

But the largest group of admirers comes from the students who clustered around her booths. She helped Potter find a job in his senior year and stay in college when it didn't always make sense.

"I was always looking for excuses to drop out," said Potter, who now works for Alcoa in South Carolina, "But I never could find one good enough. She was a fantastic lady, in my opinion."

Years later, Potter introduced Watkins to his wife, and then his children. Watkins was proud.

Larry Wilson fretted about chasing a career as a weather forecaster when N.C. State didn't even offer a meteorology degree. At Western Lanes, Watkins reminded him that he had lived through Hurricane Hazel and spent his young life fascinated by storms. At her urging, Wilson transferred to Florida State University and become a lead tornado watcher in Kansas.

"Sometimes we do take the right forks in the road when given good advice," he said in an interview.

Watkins was not without fault, her family is quick to say. She had a sharp tongue.

But when students were long past college and into old age, Watkins' courtesies stayed with them, stuck in their minds like a first dance, or a good meal.

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