| Graduation Year | Class of 1952 |
| Date of Passing | Aug 30, 2006 |
| About | James Donald Waters, 73 Longtime Coach And Referee In Chattanooga Wednesday, August 30, 2006 James Donald Waters, 73, of East Ridge died on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 in a local hospital. He had been a member of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church for over 50 years. He was born in Brooklyn, NY on July 15, 1933 to Vincent and Kathleen Lawlor Waters. He was educated at Bourne High School in Massachusetts and the University of Chattanooga. Don had been a teacher and coach at East Ridge Middle and High Schools, Soddy Daisy High School and Our Lady of Perpetual Help School coaching football, basketball, track and cross-country. A longtime swimming coach in Chattanooga, he was instrumental in founding the Chattanooga Swim League and was inducted into the Tennessee Swimming Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the Chattanooga Old Timers Hall of Fame and had been a TSSAA Referee for 30 Years. He had been affiliated with the YMCA for 50 years. Coach Waters was a veteran of the US Air Force Strategic Air Command and a member of the American Legion Post 95. He was preceded in death by two brothers, Vincent Waters and Francis Waters and a sister, Jeanne Gerencer. A funeral mass was held at 10 a.m. on Friday at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church with Father Mike Nolan officiating. Burial was in Chattanooga National Cemetery with Military Honors. The family received friends from 4-8 p.m. on Thursday at the East Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home, Crematory and Florist, 404 South Moore Road. |
