Reverend William Kenyon Waits “Bill” Waits, Jr. passed away Friday, November 20, 2020 in Montgomery, Alabama. He was born July 15, 1927 in Birmingham to William Kenyon Waits, Sr. & Virginia Bayzer Waits. He was preceded in death by his parents, his sister, Virginia Waits Crane; and his great nephew, Michael Stephen Kelliher. Rev. Waits is survived by four nieces. He was a member of Providence Presbyterian Church in Montgomery.
Rev. Waits joined the US Navy during World War II and became a Hospital Apprentice Second Class. He served from 1945 until he was honorably discharged in February 147, from the US Naval Hospital in Bremerton, Washington. Rev. Waits graduated from Duke Divinity School in 1955, and served as pastor at several small churches in north Alabama and central Tennessee until 1959. His greatest satisfaction came as a staff member of USO where he bought old buses with his own funds and gave free tours of the Washington, D.C. area to soldiers home for R & R at Quantico Marine Base, Fort Belvoir, and Bethesda Naval Base. Some of the soldiers came with no money and he frequently allowed them to stay in his apartment. The 610th Ordinance Battalion honored “Mr. Bill” with a battalion certificate for his service to soldiers upon his retirement October 1, 1990.
Graveside Service will be on Monday, November 30, 2020 at 11:00 at Greenwood Cemetery in Montgomery.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18