Linda Lou Tinker was born in Perryville, Tennessee to James Logan Tinker and Jewel Houston Tinker. She was raised in Perryville and Parsons where she learned respect for others, a serious work ethic, and to dream of big things. Linda played basketball and was awarded player of the year in 1958 at Parsons High School. She was a pianist and member of the band where she played trombone. After high school graduation, she attended Florida State University where she majored in Music and Business Administration, earning a Bachelor of Science. She joined the Marching Seminoles Band and traveled the South to perform in football games, bowl games and parades. Linda joined the Sigma Kappa sorority and learned leadership as she became president of her sorority.
During these collegiate years, she met and married Robert (Bob) Watkins. After college they moved to her hometown of Parsons, and she worked with her mother and father as an accountant in the family businesses. She and Bob had four children: April, Robert, John and Greg, which she loved dearly. Her life quickly became centered around her children and their many activities. She participated in PTA, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Band Boosters, Quarterback Club, Homeroom Mother, 4-H leader and other school-based groups. Linda loved being a mother more than anything; it was her first and most important calling in life.
Linda was active in her community, taking on leadership roles in various civic clubs, organizations, and political parties. She became a pianist and organist in church and served for many years. Over the years Linda was a member of the Perryville Baptist Church, First Baptist Church, First Methodist Church, and St. Regina Catholic Church.
With a small group of women, Linda joined the Daughters of the American Revolution and formed the Peter Houston Chapter of Decatur County. It was within this organization that she found her second calling in life. She rose through the ranks at the local and state organizations and became Tennessee State Regent in 1992 and served a three-year term. After her term as Regent, she was asked to join the national management team as Registrar General where she served from 1995-1998 overseeing the genealogy and lineage research departments at DAR national headquarters in Washington, D.C. In 1998 she was elected as First Vice President General to the National Society DAR and served as head of personnel. Finally, in 2001, Linda was elected as the President General of National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. She moved to Washington, D.C., and led this international organization into a new era.
As President General, Linda restructured and revamped this 120-year old organization to ensure financial stability, provide technology, initiate new public outreach programs, and digitize historic documentation and genealogy records. Her initiatives and actions as President General achieved momentous strides in modernizing the organization and will be held as a major shift in operations for decades to come.
One of her most poignant moments happened on September 11, 2001, when only five months into her term the United States was attacked by terrorists. While New York and Washington, D.C. were under attack, Mrs. Watkins managed to maintain safety for her 150 employees and secure priceless historic artifacts and documents. She was in one of the last groups to evacuate the city, having made certain her people were safe. After the attack, she worked with the Pentagon to develop Project Patriot, a volunteer program that provided care packages to the men and women heading into battle.
Other notable projects created during her tenure include: The Forgotten Patriots, a program and exhibition honoring the contributions of Blacks and Native Americans in the fight for American Independence. Launch of the American Spirit Magazine which focuses on history, preservation, and education. Creation of a communications department that provides public relations and community outreach highlighting the many programs, scholarships, museum exhibitions, library programs and work of the DAR in communities across the country and around the world.
Memberships
National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (Past President General)