Stephen Waits

Stephen Glen Waits, 75, died February 19, 2024 at Hospice of
Wendover in Shelby N.C., lovingly surrounded by his family.

Steve was born and raised in Gainesville, Florida but lived most
of his adult life in NC. He served in the United States Navy on
the USS Jouett, a guided missile cruiser and was a Vietnam War veteran.

Steve was preceded in death by his parents Lewie and Eloise Waits,
of Cherryville, NC and grandparents Cheever and Sue Caswell of New
Hampshire and Harvey and Sue Waits of Florida.

Survivors include his beloved children, Tara Manjarres of
Lincolnton, NC; Stephen Glen Waits II (Mira) of Boone, NC; Menta
Finger (Kelcy) of Sherrills Ford, NC. He is also survived by his outstanding
sisters who unselfishly cared for him detail by detail until the end,
Nancy Self (Jim) of Cherryville, NC; Jo Waits (Thad) of Cocoa Beach,
FL; and Becky Sain of Cherryville, NC.

Steve relished his grandkids and spent innumerable hours attending
their extracurricular activities, sports, birthday parties and
milestone events. His grandchildren are Jose Emilio “EJ” Manjarres of
Lincolnton, NC, twins Madaline & Makayla Finger of Sherrills Ford, NC
and Audrey and Simone Waits of Boone, NC.

Steve spent the majority of his professional career as lead
machinist of Arguto/Nolu Plastics in Maiden, NC, where he was able to
design about any part imaginable to perfection within micrometers
of precision. After the plant closed down and he turned the lights off
for the final time he continued the last few years of his work-life as
a prison guard at Lincoln Correctional Center, Lincolnton, NC.

Steve had a lot of interests and hobbies throughout his life from
caving to camping to organic gardening in his backyard where many
picked from his carefully and methodically chosen vegetables, some
with a few friendly bugs! He was also an environmentalist and
herpetologist and an avid reader to his last days.

He began traveling overseas in his later years taking trips to
Nicaragua, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Italy, Scotland, Spain among
others. But he also loved walking on the Marcia Cloninger Rail Trail
in his hometown, where he never met a stranger.

He was a beer enthusiast, loved Westerns and Perry Mason and when
it was on the air, probably never missed a 6:30 pm episode of the CBS
Evening News with Dan Rather.

Steve had a great respect and love of nature and animals and
adored his cat Algernon. Memorials in his honor can be made to
Hospice of Wendover Shelby, the Sierra Club, or an environmental
organization of your preference.

An open-invitation Celebration of Life is being held at Steve's favorite watering hole, Bricktree Brewing, at 414 E Water St, Lincolnton, NC on May 5th at 2pm. Please join us for some drinks, revelry, and stories about his amazingly adventurous life.