Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Watten visits family at the Wall of Honor
BELLA VISTA — Lisa Watten is connected to Bella Vista and national history alike.
Watten is a retired science teacher — awarded teacher of the year in 2000 — and school counselor who worked in Bentonville and Gravette.
She’s from Minnesota, she said, noting she came down to Arkansas after her parents retired in Bella Vista.
Her father, Leonard Watten, was a Navy veteran and oldschool architect, she said.
“At 79, he pro bono designed the Veterans Wall of Honor,” she said. “He refused to use a computer or Photoshop.”
The wall was completed in 2004 and Leonard Watten died of cancer in 2008, not even two weeks after he was diagnosed.
Lisa Watten said she believes he knew he was sick but wanted to see the project through — he worked on-site daily during the construction and spent time giving presentations to help sell bricks and fund the project as it continued.
“He was here every day,” she said.
The design of the wall was developed from a wide array of sources, she explained. The arch at the entryway is modeled after Egyptian construction, she said, while the light globes inside are reminiscent of lights in the home she grew up in.
The monument’s circular shape symbolizes cover from danger as well as a comforting, protective embrace, she said.
“He built this wall to remind us we’re all together in this,” she said.
Watten said she hopes people remember to look out for one-another.
Further, she said, she believes her father wanted the wall to serve as a message to future generations honoring the work service members have performed over the years.
“I miss him terribly,” she said. “He was a huge part of my life, and he still is.”
While he is buried in the Fayetteville National Cemetery, Watten said she comes by the wall frequently to see him.
Watten is also a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and is a descendant of Gen. John Buttrick, who ordered what was later called the shot heard ’round the world at the Battle of Concord in 1775.
While the government didn’t celebrate the moment until a century later, she said, it was a pivotal moment all the same.
At the time, Buttrick was a 54-year-old farmer and a lieutenant in the colonists’ army, she said.
The British troops, weary from a long march, arrived to find colonists — including Buttrick — standing on the town’s old north bridge.
As they arrived, the commander left and put Buttrick in charge. Realizing he was in charge, troops fired on Buttrick and struck someone standing near him, she said.
Understandably upset about this development, he ordered his own troops to fire back.
“He gave the first order of, it was called the colonists’ war at the time,” she said.
The Revolutionary War began there and eventually the United States won its independence from the crown.
Years later, Watten’s family includes numerous service members, many memorialized on the Wall of Honor — including Buttrick.
“My grandfather, my uncles, everybody’s got blocks,” Watten said.
Today, Watten said she enjoys photography and appreciates all the trails in the city.
Additionally, she said, she’s looking into starting a Youtube channel called Watten-Buttrick First Order.
She’s a cancer survivor and said her grandchildren, Jude and Nora, kept her going through the chemotherapy.
People dealing with cancer and its treatments shouldn’t be ashamed of their symptoms, though it’s often difficult not to feel like a burden, she said.
Things have been tough over the past year, she said, with people across the country dealing with isolation and other stressors.
Watten said she’d be eager to speak with veterans, other cancer patients and survivors or other Mensa members and she can be contacted at lisawatten@gmail.com.
For now, she’s enjoying living in Bella Vista and watching the landscape beautify throughout this spring.
“I just find it breathtaking,” she said.