Daniel Vance Waters

Daniel Vance Waters, 70, of Ellington, CT, formerly of Asheville, passed away peacefully on March 15, 2024. He leaves behind his best friend and beloved wife of nearly 50 years, Doris, and treasured daughters, Crystal Elliott (Don), and Jennifer Campbell. He was a proud and loving grandfather to Evelyn and Aiden Elliott, and Lilly and Denton Campbell. In addition, Dan is survived by his brother Bob (Barbara) Waters and numerous nieces and nephews.

Born in Sylva, NC, to Robert Lewis Waters and Evelyn Moss on November 10, 1953, he was predeceased by his siblings, Audrey Massingale and Michael Waters, as well as nephews, Jeffrey Massingale and Christopher Waters.

Dan proudly served in the United States Air Force from 1975 to 1980 as an Electronic Warfare and Weapons Specialist at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, NC. He held a BA in Business Administration from Montreat Anderson College, an Associate of Science in Electronics Technologies from Asheville Buncombe Technical College, and an Associate of General Studies from Pikes Peak Community College. Before retirement, Dan was quality engineer in the automotive and security screening industries for 40 years.

Dan was a man of his word and had a strong and abiding faith in God that shone through every aspect of his life. He was an active member of Oak Forest Presbyterian Church for 40 years, and was honored to serve as an elder and on several committees. He will be remembered for his leadership, endless generosity, and as a disciplined and hardworking servant of God.

Dan’s love of history was equally matched by his deep love of aviation. He possessed an endless reservoir of curiosity and awe, and he encouraged those same practices in everyone he knew.

Dad, we’ll see you in every battlefield marching through the high grass during the dog days of summer, with your hand cupped to your ear straining to hear the echoes of battles fought long ago. We’ll see you at the National Air and Space Museum with your camera in hand and a grin from ear to ear. We’ll imagine you walking the trails of the Blue Ridge Mountains with a border collie by your side, when the air is crisp and the leaves reveal God’s splendor in a glorious riot of colors. We’ll remember you camped out on the Blue Ridge Parkway on those frigid winter nights with your trusty telescope teaching us about the solar system and sharing hot chocolate from your thermos. And we’ll imagine you hunched over your desk building model aircraft softly singing “My Girl,” in your lovely tenor voice, when the Temptations play on the radio. Most importantly, dad, we’ll hear you when life gets hard, saying “that’s life.”

Thank you for always showing up; but, most importantly, thank you for leaving us with the knowledge that we were truly and greatly loved, often saying: “the legacy of a man’s life can be measured by the family that he leaves behind.” So long for now daddy, we know that you are just beyond those far Blue Mountains that you loved and called your home. We love you so.

The family will celebrate Dan’s life on Saturday, July 27, beginning with a visitation at 12:30 p.m. at Groce Funeral Home on Patton Ave. The service will follow at 1:00 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project.