Ruth Waters

Ruth Waters October 9, 1925 - August 12, 2009 Ruth "Bunny" Waters Mrs. Ruth Waters, 83, passed away Wednesday the 12th at Bayview after an enthusiastic life and a long struggle with unavoidably advanced age. Known as "Bunny" by family and friends she was a very rare bird and someone who will be missed by more people than she might have realized. Born in Queens NY, raised in Falmouth and Cape Cod MA, Bunny studied radio and photography at M.I.T. and during WWII flew on B-26 Marauders while testing radar equipment for the U.S.A.A.F. A life long-enthusiast of almost everything, she was a pilot, snow skier, SCUBA and high board diver, Executive Secretary and Fixed Base Operator for the St. John's County Airport Authority. While living in Columbus Ohio, Bunny was secretary for astronaut John Glen's first senate campaign, an actress, television performer and to her patient husband's surprise learned to break boards with her bare hands while earning brown belts in karate and judo. We won't go into the details of how she was once arrested for accidentally shooting up a casino in Las Vegas or got rolled over the reef off Guam while diving on a WWI shipwreck, but life with Bunny was never boring. At one time she was sales manager for the island's GM dealer, rode a motorcycle to work and brought home a different car each night, some of which proceeded to fall apart in the driveway. Married to Gordon Dean Waters - a Chief Master Sergeant in the U.S.A.F. - she dutifully moved her family to a variety of military bases in the U.S. and across the pacific ocean before finally retiring to St. Augustine where Mr. Waters managed Jax Liquors and later the television remote control. Sgt. Waters passed away in 2002. Her spelling was perfect, her cooking outrageous and her lust for life legendary. She is survived by her children; Scott, Mari Waters Cogan, Dale and Jon, her grandchildren; Taylor, Colin, Ryan, Erin and a couple of grand-dogs. Another grandchild, Brandon Waters, pre-deceased her in 2007. Underlined in Mom's bible was Psalm 37:26-26: "I have been young and now I am old. In all my years I have never seen the Lord forsake a man who loves him; nor have I seen the children of the godly go hungry. Instead, the godly are able to be generous with their gifts and loans to others, and their children are a blessing". Grandma Bunny was truly one of a kind. The brighter side of life expressed itself through her and we will always remember her love, humor, intelligence and passion. A memorial service will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at Anastasia Baptist Church with Rev. Mason Reigger officiating. Mrs. Water's cremated remains will be interred next to her husband at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date. St. Johns Family Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.