Dee Anne Waters, 70, passed quietly away in her sleep on Wednesday morning, November 28th, 2012. A lovely, loving and much loved gentle woman who will be greatly missed by her family and many friends.
Dee Anne is survived by her husband, Earl Waters, Lawrence, Kansas, and by her son Abe Waters, Lawrence, Kansas. She is also survived by her brother, Norman York and his wife, Dorothy, of Inverness, Florida.
Dee Anne was predeceased by her father, Norman York, Sr., her mother, Vida (Moberly) York, and her sons Josh Waters and Jacob Waters.
A country girl, Dee grew up in Buffalo, Oklahoma. on a ranch 8 or 10 miles from town, where her dad herded over 200 head of cattle and harvested about 400 acres of wheat. The ranch covered about 3,000 acres. She attended Buffalo High School and graduated in 1960. She then enrolled in East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma, where she planned to major in Education. She wanted to be an English teacher. However, she met her future husband, another English major and dropped out of school her first semester to get married. After her husband dropped out also, they moved to Houston, Texas, where he worked for a mortgage company. After a year they moved back to Ada for her husband to finish his last year of college.
His teaching career took them first to Ft. Morgan, Colorado, then to Dodge City, Kansas, and finally to Lawrence, Kansas. They had three sons; Joshua, Abraham, and Jacob. In the early years, Dee stayed home and raised her sons. When the kids reached junior high level, Dee took a job with the Menninger Foundation, working in a grant-funded program called Projects with Industry as a job placement specialist. Her job was to find employment for a number of clients with handicaps.
Dee was good at her job, and it wasn’t long until the International Association of Machinists’ Union (IAMCARES) offered her a job as Program Director of a similar program working with individuals with handicaps. Dee worked for the Machinists’ Program for 20 years, retiring in 2004.
During her retirement, Dee Anne, had time to do the things she enjoyed most. She loved to read, watch good movies, work in her flower beds, and socialize with her Bridge Club and all her neighborhood friends.
Dee’s bridge club was entitled “The Fun Group Bridge Club”, and she immensely enjoyed being in that group, which contained many of her closest friends. They mostly played bridge when they met, but often they would meet for a luncheon or noon meal. The ladies of the bridge club were all close friends and they often helped one another through tough times. They had a strong bond.
I know that Dee Anne will be greatly missed, not only by her family, but also by her close friends. She was a sweet, kindly lady, and for as long as I have known her, she always wanted to do what was the right thing to do.
Funeral services for Dee Anne, will be 2:00 pm Saturday, December 1, 2012 at Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home, with Pastor Tom Brady officiating.
Friends may call from noon to 8pm Friday at the Funeral Home, where the family will greet them from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm Friday.
In lieu of flowers the family suggests memorials to the Lawrence Humane Society, The Salvation Army, and Habitat for Humanity, sent in care of the funeral home, PO Box 1260, Lawrence, KS 66044.
