Obituary of Philip Owen Watts

Philip Owen Watts (74) of Brampton, Ontario passed away on October 29th, 2023.

Philip was born on February 26th, 1949 in Georgetown, Guyana to Burchell and Virigina Watts. He was their eldest child and would go on to have 5 other siblings: Malcolm, Carole, Georgiana, Donna and the late Gary Watts. 

Philip developed a loved for teaching and after secondary school completed a Trained teacher’s certificate from Cyril Potters College of Guyana (CPCE). He would later complete a Certificate in Education and a Bachelor’s of Education from the University of Guyana (UG). He would eventually become a Lecturer and Assistant Vice-Principal at CPCE.

After graduating from CPCE in 1971, Philip would start a teaching position  at No.29 Primary School. There he met Shirley Dos Santos, a fellow teacher, and the two would fall in love. They were married on Nov 2nd 1974 and would enjoy 49 years of marriage together. They would have 4 children together: David, Aula, Desmond and the late Mervin Watts. Philip was a very thoughtful and hard working husband and father. He always sought to show his love loudest through his actions.  One of those actions was to move his family to Canada in 2001.

Philip was fiercely proud of being Guyanese and loved the career he had built in teaching. But he chose to leave his home country and his illustrious career of 33 years because he felt that Canada would offer better opportunities for his children, (especially his youngest son Desmond) and grandchildren. Philip would spend 22 years in Canada working to provide those opportunities.   Philip would enjoy being a grandfather to Ryan (24), Acquila (20), Deandre (10), Sariah (4), Dominic (3), and Shiloh (1).

Other than his family  and his country (Guyana), Philip loved talking politics, philosophy, and psychology, watching Sidney Poiter movies, supporting the West lndies Cricket team, and reading his Bible. The Christian faith was the most important value of his parents and  they sought to pass that on him from an early age. After retiring in 2015, Philip made growing his understanding and obedience of Jesus one the his central focuses. His family are trusting that now he is with Jesus. 

We invite you to join us as we celebrate his life at his Canadian Memorial on Nov. 18th at New Haven Funeral Home.