Birth: March 23, 1925
Death: February 1, 1999
Location: Lot 127, Section 1, New Addition
Ross E. Waite, 73, of Wood River died Monday, Feb. 1, 1999, at St. Francis Medical Center.
Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday at Apfel Funeral Home in Wood River. The Rev. Larry Nothstine will officiate. Burial with military rites will be in the Wood River Cemetery.
Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home.
Mr. Waite was born on March 3, 1925, at Hayti, S.D., to Clyde and Clara (Jensen) Waite. He was educated at Hayti and graduated in 1943.
He entered the Navy and served on the NTC Great Lakes, Ill., USS Wolverine, USS Charger, USS Boxer and USS Franklin D. Roosevelt from Nov. 17, 1944, to April 8, 1946.
He married Betty Zundel on Feb. 2, 1945, at Watertown, S.D. The couple moved in 1959 to Wood River, where he was a general contractor for 25 years specializing in cement work. He retired in 1990. Mrs. Waite died on July 25, 1997.
Mr. Waite was a member of American Legion Post 314.
Survivors include two sons, Terry of Elm Creek and Larry of Midwest City, Okla.; four daughters, Jane Waite and Linda (Mrs. Rick) Wiese, both of Grand Island, Barbara (Mrs. Jim) Wiltgen of Kearney and Donna (Mrs. Russell) Smith of Parker, S.D.; 22 grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; two brothers, Ellsworth Waite of Watertown, S.D., and Doyle Waite of Altura, Minn.; and one sister, Shirley (Mrs. Al) Jewell of Puhrump, Nev.
In addition to his wife, he was preceded in death by seven brothers and two sisters.