It's with heavy hearts we announce the passing of honorary member and an active member to the Banksville community, Doris Finch Watson, wife of predeceased member William Watson Sr. past fire police treasurer, mother of Chief Walter Watson and past Captain William Watson, Jr. Dorrie was a huge contributor to helping the Banksville Fire Department with our annual Turkey Jamboree by obtaining donations. She also was very well involved in the celebration of our 50th Anniversary, she contributed her time, effort and knowledge. She will be greatly missed, may she rest peacefully.

Source: All About Armonk

Celebration of a Grand Life:
Doris Finch Watson
28 July 1923 - 30 December 2014
December 30, 2014
Mrs. Doris Finch Watson went home Sunday evening, not feeling well. She went to bed and passed away peacefully in her sleep early on Tuesday morning, December 30, 2014 at the age of 91.
A wake will be held on Sunday January 4 from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at Ballard Durand Funeral Home, 2 Maple Avenue, White Plains. Her funeral will be held on Monday January 5 at 10:00 a.m. at the Bedford Presbyterian Church, 44 Village Green, Bedford. A burial will follow at the Middle Patent Rural Cemetery, Bedford.
She was born in the hamlet of Banksville in the Town of North Castle, the daughter of Walter Sutherlin Finch and Emma H. Miller. A founder of the North Castle Historical Society in 1968, she was named the Town Historian of North Castle in 1993. She was also the first woman to be honored with the Pat Bresha Award by the Armonk Lions Club for distinguished community service.
At her 90th birthday celebration in September 2013, Mrs. Watson was surrounded by her family of several generations. When the birthday cake appeared, Mrs. Watson thanked everyone for joining her and for being her friends, some for 80 years.
She fondly mentioned her 50-year marriage to her husband, William J. Watson who died in 1998. Doris Finch married William Joseph Watson in 1948. The Watsons took over Finch's Country Store in Banksville to host the 100th anniversary of the general store in 1960. Following a fire in 1980, the store reopened with Mrs. Watson’s two sons, Walter Suntherlin Finch Watson II and William J. Watson Jr., who became the fifth generation of the family to operate the store, a 130-year-old family business. At the end of World War II, she was also the personal assistant to Henry Fonda during his years on Broadway starring in the play, Mr. Roberts.
The Finch family is well-known in Banksville, dating back to 1720 with eight generations in North Castle. Those eight generations have been buried in Banksville’s Middle Patent Rural Cemetery, including Samuel Banks, who, in 1743, was the cemetery's first burial. An island in the cemetery's small lake, Dorrie's Island, was named after Mrs. Watson who owns a large family plot in Middle Patent. In 2002, she told The New York Times that the plot can “take care of quite a group.” Doris Finch Watson was also the secretary-treasurer of the 15-acre Middle Patent Rural Cemetery.
Mrs. Watson's involvement with the community remained strong as she has worked with many organizations. Her knowledge of the history of our town was deep, as preservation of history and artifacts were especially important to her. And her breadth of historical knowledge was called upon often. She was a relentless in maintaining the history of North Castle, especially in Banksville where she resided her entire life, as well as saving Smith's Tavern, the Brundage Blacksmith Shop, the East Middle Patent School, and the Quaker Meetinghouse, which dates to 1790. At the time of her death, she was leading the fight to preserve and save the Miller House in North White Plains which was George Washington's Headquarters during the Battle of White Plains in the Revolutionary War, one that she waged for more than 25 years.
Mrs. Watson’s passion for North Castle was never-ending and she maintained active in many organizations including program director of the Banksville Community Center for 27 years, and was a honorary member of the the Banksville Fire Department, where her son Walter was Fire Chief. She was an incorporating member of The North Castle Historical Society when it was chartered in 1972 and remained a board member until her death. Mrs. Watson was a founding member of the Friends of the Miller House/Washington's Headquarters and chair of the Elijah Miller House Committee for the Town of North Castle.
Farewell to a woman who left many fond memories and passion for her town, memories that can never be taken away. Many people truly appreciated her grace, what she did for the town, and how she did it.
As North Castle's Town Historian and a lifelong North Castle resident, Mrs. Watson had a great sense of where the community has been as well as an intuition about what the future will bring, said her good friend, Ambassador Donald Gregg, another longtime North Castle resident.
Mrs. Watson's volunteering never ended, said one friend, “She was no age, but rather forever young."
Her friend and neighbor Sharon Tomback says Mrs. Watson had a unique way about her. She was always positive, always delighted to see people. She never had a negative thing to say, one of her favorite expressions was, “Turn the coin over.”
Another friend said Mrs. Watson's wisdom, experience, knowledge and passion permeated the whole town while her contributions were ageless, like her.
In an interview with the Greenwich Time in 2010, Mrs. Watson offered the following advice to the president of the United States: “Have courage and always consider what is best for this beloved country and its people.” Mrs. Watson carried that sentiment about her home town for her entire life.
Mrs. Watson leaves behind three children: Phoebe Finch Watson and her partner Drew of Stamford, CT; Walter Sutherlin Finch Watson II, his wife Mary Jane "MJ" and their three children, Tucker, Casey and Kiley, of Banksville, CT; and William Joseph Watson, Jr., his wife Carmel and their two children, Samuel and Kimberly, in Buzzards Bay, MA.