Sheila Jo Watkins; Wife of Admiral, Cabinet Offical

Sheila Jo McKinney Watkins, who prided herself on being a “typical Navy wife” to retired Adm. James D. Watkins, former chief of naval operations and U.S. secretary of energy, has died. She was 67.

Watkins died Friday in her home in St. Leonard, Md., of cancer, her family said.

The daughter of Rear Adm. J.D. McKinney, she grew up in Asia and California while he served in the Pacific. She earned a degree in journalism from San Diego State and, during her college years, wrote a weekly column about campus activities for the San Diego Union.

But once she met Watkins, whom she married in Coronado in 1950, her career was set: following him around the world and raising their six children, often alone. She became an adept hostess for receptions for 500, weathered such events as a royal romance between her daughter Laura Jo and Britain’s Prince Charles, and moved her family 32 times during her husband’s 37 years with the Navy. Wherever she was, she helped other loyal and flexible wives cope.

“We share the same joys and loves,” she told The Times in 1984, describing her instant rapport with other Navy spouses. “Our husbands love the sea first. You’re a smart woman if you know that right from the start. There isn’t any competition. Most naval officers are faithful men, but their mistress is the sea.”

Being a Navy wife, she advised others, “means sink or swim. You’re on your own. Gotta be tough.”

As her husband rose in rank, she comforted officers’ wives. “I tell them that my husband appreciates their role, that it’s an unsung role, a very demanding role that no one appreciates unless they’ve been there--the lonely hours, keeping your chin up when it’s pretty tough.”

Watkins’ help to other families was personal and sometimes official, as she served on the boards of the Navy Relief Society and the Navy Wifeline Assn. When her husband, a nuclear energy expert, joined the Cabinet as energy secretary, she established and raised money for two state-of-the-art child-care centers in the nation’s capital.

Still helping wives even in her semi-civilian years, Watkins founded the Spouses of Presidential Appointees to help the other half of Cabinet couples adjust to their new role.

She was honored in 1992 as a Roman Catholic Dame of Malta for her assistance to the needy.

In addition to her husband of 46 years, Watkins is survived by their six children, Katherine Koopersmith, Laura Kauffmann, Charles, Susan, Father James Jr., and Edward; a sister, Marie Anderson; their stepmother, Margaret Betts McKinney of San Diego, and nine grandchildren.

After rosary tonight in Arlington, Va., Mass will be offered at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception with internment in Arlington National Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to Calvert Hospice, P.O. Box 838, Prince Frederick, Md. 20678, or the Sisters of Life at 1955 Needham Road, Bronx, N.Y. 10466.