August 15, 1931 - November 6, 2023
Memorial Services for Talmadge Wayne McWaters, 92, will be conducted at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, November 18, 2023, at Bayview Fisher-Pou Chapel. The family will receive friends from 12:30 p.m. until time of the service. Interment will follow at Bayview Memorial Park
Wayne was a faithful Christian and led a blessed and abundant life. Born August 15, 1931, on a farm near Coffee Springs, Geneva County, Alabama, Wayne was the firstborn of six children to Hubert Talmage (HT) McWaters and Annie Kate Johnston. Growing up in south Alabama during the peak of the Great Depression, the farm family endured tough circumstances and Wayne was no stranger to long days of hard work. Shortly after graduating from Coffee Springs High School, Wayne enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. He was deployed to Korea for approximately two years during the Korean War and was subsequently deployed to Japan for two years supporting the post WWII reconstruction efforts. Wayne achieved the rank of Staff Sergeant, received multiple service medals, and was honorably discharged December, 1954.
Following his military service, Wayne attended the University of Alabama where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. While living in Birmingham, he met and married his first wife, Mary Ann Shannon on November 20, 1955. Wayne and Mary Ann moved to Pensacola where Wayne worked at Chemstrand (subsequently Monsanto). While working, attending First Baptist Church, and raising their two sons Mark and Kent, Wayne found time to earn a Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Florida in 1963. After 33 years of happy marriage, Mary Ann succumbed to cancer on November 22, 1988.
Six years later on September 5, 1992, Wayne married Joan (Jewell) Pierce, who he met in a grief therapy group. Joan had previously lost her husband to cancer and has one son Wesley Pierce.
Wayne’s typically quiet and serious demeanor was often broken by his exuberance and passion for fishing, shrimping, crabbing, and boating on the Pensacola bays and waters. Catching, cooking, and eating seafood was a life-long passion he enjoyed sharing with family and friends. He loved living on Pensacola Bay in the house he built for over 42 years. Wayne also loved his Sunday School group at Hillcrest Baptist Church as well as Alabama Crimson Tide and Florida Gator football.
Wayne is survived by his wife of 31 years, Joan Pierce McWaters; sons Mark McWaters (Susan) and Kent McWaters (Rebecca Graves), Wesley Pierce; daughter-in-law, Martha McWaters; grandchildren, Sarah (McWaters), Woolson (Tylor), Michael McWaters (Dani Hoyer), Shannon McWaters (Aaron Baughman), and Brandon Spraggins. Wayne is also survived by siblings, Jerrell Dee McWaters, Lynda Ann (McWaters) Pouncey, Rosalyn (McWaters) Ward (Ed), and Roger Dale McWaters (Mary).
Wayne was preceded in death by his parents Hubert Talmage and Annie Kate McWaters, his wife Mary Ann McWaters, and sister Marjorie Carol (McWaters) Hennessee.
In lieu of flowers the family requests that you make a donation to the American Cancer Society or the Alzheimer’s Association.
BAYVIEW FISHER-POU CHAPEL, 3351 Scenic Highway entrusted with arrangements. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.BayviewFisher-PouChapel.com for the McWaters family.
