Errol T. “E.T.” Waters

Obituary

Class of 1914

July 21, 1895 – Sept. 22, 1983

Errol T. “E. T.” Waters

Services for Errol T. “E. T.” Waters, 88, of 127 Driftwood Rd., Boise, who died on Thursday, Sept. 22, 1983, at home of natural causes, will be held on Monday, Sept. 26, at 10 a.m. at the Cloverdale Funeral Home, with Chaplain Sam Guy Smith of the El Korah Shire Temple officiating. Interment will be in Cloverdale Memorial Park.

Mr. Waters, popularly known as “E. T.”, was born on July 21, 1895, in Merced, Calif. He married Grace D. Hughes on Dec. 29, 1933, in Farmington, Utah. He devoted much of his life to the Democratic Party, starting at the precinct level and working up to the position of State Chairman. His career had been primarily in business and agriculture. A native of Merced he came to Weiser in 1910, where he graduated from Weiser High School. He worked in the automobile business in Weiser from 1921 to 1936. He was involved in the livestock and dairy industries from 1921 to 1942. From 1945 to 1951, he was in the livestock commission business in both Weiser and Vale, Ore.

While in Weiser, he served seven terms as Washington County Democratic Chairman, terminating his political activities there when he moved to Boise in 1953. Mr. Waters was in the construction business in Boise from 1953 through 1961, at which time he retired.

He was an Ada County Democratic Committeeman from 1958 to 1963 and State Committeeman from 1963 to 1965. His election as State Chairman of the Democratic Party came on Oct. 30, 1965, and he was re-elected for a term of two years in June of 1966 at an official State Central Committee meeting in Coeur d’ Alene. He was elected for three more terms, and served a total of eight years in that position.

He was a charter member of the Weiser Elks Lodge and was a member and past president of the Boise Valley Hi-Di-Ho Travel Trailer Club.

He is survived by his wife, Grace of Boise; a daughter, Mrs. Harry C. Smith of Portland, Ore.; three sons, G. W. “Wally” Waters and Errol Thomas “Tom” Waters, Jr., both of Boise, and A. J. Waters of Anchorage, Alaska; 12 grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Pallbearers will be Robert walker, Joe White, Kent Moser, Cotty Lowery, Dr. D. W. Hughes and Chester Graham.

Memorials may be made to the Elks Rehabilitation Center, or to a favorite charity. Friends may call today from noon until 4 p.m. at the Cloverdale Funeral Home.

From The Idaho Statesman, Sunday, September 25, 1983 page 4B