City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremation
Obituary
Marie Ann McMahon Watanabe
Raleigh, North Carolina
Age 73.
Died 11/16/2025.
Marie Ann Watanabe, beloved mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend, passed away peacefully on November 16, 2025, in Raleigh, North Carolina. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on August 16, 1952, she was one of two children of Thomas and Kathleen McMahon.
On April 19, 1980, Marie married Dr. Tsuneo Kent Watanabe (deceased) in Durham, North Carolina. Together they made their home in Cary, where they raised three
daughters—Jennifer, Emily, and Audrey, and founded a successful medical practice. She cherished her family above all else and delighted in her role as “Grandma” to her
grandchildren, Alaina and Nathan.
Marie earned her degree in Family and Consumer Sciences from Meredith College in 2001 and went on to teach both preschool and high school students. A gifted
homemaker, she was known for her warmth, creativity, and resilience. She found joy in cooking, knitting, cross-stitching, sewing, quilting, and traveling. Her deep affection for animals was reflected in the many pets she welcomed into her life, especially her beloved dogs.
She is survived by her children, Jennifer Clark, Emily Watanabe, and Audrey Watanabe; her grandchildren, Alaina Clark and Nathan Clark; her sister, Patricia Miller; her son-in-law, Jeff Clark; her daughter-in-law, Heather Dean; and nephews, Evan Miller and Matthew Miller.
A gathering of friends and family in celebration of her life will be held at The Mayton Hotel in downtown Cary, NC on December 22, 2025 from 12:00-2:00.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to Transitions LifeCare, 250 Hospice Circle, Raleigh, NC 27607, in gratitude for the compassionate care and comfort they
provided or to the SPCA of Wake County, links below:
Donate to Transitions LifeCare: Impact End-of-Life Care
Donate to SPCA Wake Donation Campaign
The family would like to thank everyone for their love and support.
For additional information or for service details, please reach out to the family directly.
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City of Oaks Cremation and Funeral Home is a full-service funeral home in Raleigh, serving all of North Carolina and beyond. We provide an alternative to costly funeral homes and every day we help families in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and all over North Carolina make simple, affordable funeral arrangements.
Simply having to reach out to a funeral home can feel overwhelming. Our goal is to simplify the entire funeral home experience and make the process as easy as possible. We hope to eliminate any unnecessary surprises by publishing our total cost and the services we provide directly on our website. All of our obituaries are provided free of charge as a way to help families celebrate and commemorate the lives of their loved ones.
Our Promise
Apples to Apples
Just like all other licensed funeral homes in North Carolina, City of Oaks Cremation, LLC is regulated by the NC Board of Funeral Service.
The same laws that apply to the big corporate funeral homes also apply to the modest independently owned firms like ours. All crematories in North Carolina, regardless of who owns them, are inspected annually by the state and must adhere to the same rules and laws.
Genuine Care
We're committed to providing families within our community unsurpassed service before, during and after the time of loss.
Our staff will provide clear communication to your family through each step as we move forward from the original phone call notifying us of a death to the time we deliver the urn back to your family. We will treat your family with the utmost respect, as we honor the wishes of your loved one.
We promise to make this process affordable and as endurable as possible.
State Wide
Our Funeral Home is located in Wake County NC; however, we provide our services to families throughout the entire State.
Unlike other funeral homes, we don't charge an additional mileage fee. Regardless of what county you live in, we can help your family with making simple, affordable funeral arrangements. From Asheville to Wilmington, we're proud to help families statewide.
Our Services
$1196.75
Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. We include everything you need for a simple or direct cremation. Simple, affordable and reliable. We have not changed the cost of our direct cremation service since we opened City of Oaks in 2012.
$2875.66
We offer the option of choosing how you receive your loved ones remains. Selecting our Direct Cremation with Solidified Remains option is a beautiful way to transform cremated remains into 40-60 “stones” that you can hold.
$1917.84
City of Oaks Funeral Home and Cremation provides an affordable cremation option with onsite visitation. Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. Simple, affordable and reliable.
$1596.75
City of Oaks Funeral Home and Cremation provides an affordable cremation with a private family viewing. A private family viewing allows up to 10 immediate family members or friends to spend time with a loved one when a public visitation is not preferred.
$2497.50
An immediate burial has the same end result as a traditional burial; however, we have eliminated the extra (sometimes unnecessary) services prior to getting to the cemetery. Not everyone wants an open casket for viewing or a limousine for the family. Despite the term immediate, we can move as fast as you need or as slow as you like. This option simply allows you to save money by eliminating some of the fancy extras at the funeral home.
$6081.48
We offer the same traditional funeral services as the big corporately owned funeral homes in the area; however, we cost about half the amount. You might consider a traditional funeral service if your family is looking for an open casket visitation, a traditional church service or a funeral service in the funeral home's chapel. A traditional funeral service can be altered to fit the needs of your family.
$3033.75
This establishment is one of a select number of funeral homes who meet the criteria for providing green funeral service by the Green Burial Council; a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization working to encourage environmentally sustainability in the field of funeral service. Our Green options allow for a funeral to take place without the use of toxic and non-biodegradable materials/chemicals.
$2640.59
As an alternative to traditional cremation, City of Oaks Funeral Home also offers Aquamation. The Aquamation process, often referred to as alkaline hydrolysis, uses a solution of water and potassium hydroxide to facilitate natural decomposition.