WATERS, Lewis

📷WATERS, Lewis Howard Lewis Howard Waters, 95, died peacefully in his home on August 2, 2020. Lew was born to Arthur Marquis Waters and Irene Waters Rafnel in Boise, ID, and grew up in Indianapolis, IN. In 1944, after graduating from Shortridge H.S., he joined the Army Air Corps, becoming a B-17 Tail gunner with the 2nd Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force, attaining the rank of Staff Sargeant. Wounded twice, his plane was shot down over Russian-occupied Hungary. The crew was reported M.I.A. for 28 days, until they managed to repair the plane and return to their base in Italy. After WWII ended, Lew enrolled at Indiana University, graduating with a B.S. in Business Education in 1950. He met his wife, Ann, at IU, and they married on August 30, 1947. After graduating, they moved to Salt Lake City, UT, for a year and then to Boise, ID, where all three of their children were born. The family moved to Ohio in 1958, and Lew became an underwriter and then a field agent for Ohio Casualty Insurance Group, retiring in 1990. He was a lifetime member of the D.A.V. and the Military Order of the Purple Heart. Lew helped organize the Springfield Chapter of the MOPH, #620, in 1995, serving as Chaplin and Commander, each for four years, and then as Trustee. Lew was greatly honored to have been chosen to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington Cemetery on Purple Heart Day, August 7, 2010. He joined the Second Bombardment Group, also in 1995, attending annual reunions all over the country with his wife and children. In 2005, he was elected a Director, then secretary in 2007 and served as President for three years, the first non-commissioned officer to have that honor. Lew was a member of Covenant Presbyterian Church. He was preceded in death by his wife, Ann; parents; brother, Robert; sister, Helen; and nephew, James Haskins. He is survived by his son, Mark Waters; daughters, Jan (Gene) Coyle and Kim McAffee; grandsons, Matthew (Emma) McAfee, Mark McAfee and Jared (Amanda) Waters and their soon-to-be born daughter; nieces, Eleanor Garzel, Carol (Barry) Smith and Kristen Haskins; nephews, Arthur Waters, John Rawls and James Rawls; and step-great-grandson, Booker. The family especially would like to thank Jaime Bonn, Lew's caregiver the past three years and Ann's the previous five, and her daughter, Kinley Shepherd, who called Lew "Grampa Lewie" for many years. They provided much joy and comfort to Lew, who considered them part of his family. A private graveside ceremony will take place at a future date. At Lew's request, he will be cremated and his remains interred at Glen Haven Memorial Gardens, in New Carlisle, OH. In lieu of flowers, Lew requested that donations be made in his memory to www.purpleheartfoundation.org/donate or MOPH Service Foundation, Inc., PO Box 49, 7008 Little River Turnpike, Annandale, VA 22203. Arrangements have been entrusted to Richards, Raff & Dunbar Memorial Home. Expressions of sympathy may be made at www.richardsraffanddunbar.com. 📷

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