Waters, Thomas Carl 'Tom'

Thomas Carl “Tom” Waters, 100, of Marion, formerly of Coggon, passed away from this life on Monday, April 25, 2011, at the Dennis and Donna Oldorf Hospice House of Mercy in Hiawatha, Iowa. Funeral Service: 11 a.m. Friday, April 29, at Murdoch Funeral Home & Cremation Service in Central City, by the Rev. Lynn Cunningham. Family will greet friends from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home. Per Tom's wishes, the casket will be closed at all times. Burial: Coggon Cemetery, Coggon. Military Honors: Coggon American Legion Post No. 362, Coggon.

Survivors include Tom's daughter, Delores (Rick) Paton of Plainview, Ark.; daughter-in-law, Mary Waters of Belle Plaine; grandchildren, Scott Rieck of Belle Plaine, Brett (Jackie) Rieck of Aliso Viejo, Calif., Julie (Mike) Karey of Killdeer, N.D., Lisa (Bobby) Mentel of Cedar Park, Texas, Eric Waters of Washington, D.C., and Erin (fiance Jeff Hoffa) Waters of Belle Plaine; great-grandchildren, Marisa (Matt) Schilling, Megan Rieck and Shane Rieck, Zachary and Ethan Karey, and Jett Mentel; great-great-grandson, Keegan Schilling; and many nieces and nephews.

Tom was born Oct. 15, 1910, in rural Central City, the youngest child of Edgar Alonzo and Mary Bernetta (Nettie) Andrews Swaim Waters. He graduated from Coggon High School in 1928. While in the 11th grade, Tom began apprenticing as a barber, obtaining his barber license in 1929. He continued to barber for 81 more years, actually cutting hair in his basement barbershop in Coggon on his 100th birthday, Oct. 15, 2010. Tom served the United States Army at Camp Carson, Colo., where he worked in the hospital attending to soldiers injured in World War II. In 1941, he married Almira Taylor and later divorced. They had two children, Lawrence and Delores.

Tom became a member of the Coggon Post of the American Legion in 1946, and in 1955, he became one of the original members of the Lions Club of Coggon. It was at Tom's 100 birthday celebration that he was awarded the coveted Lions' Warren Coleman Award, a framed copy of the Coggon Lions Club Charter dated April 22, 1955, and the International President's Letter of Commendation.

Preceding him in death were his parents; siblings, Grace Swaim Sweet, Jessie Swaim Kirk, Harry A. Waters, George E. Waters, Walter W. Waters, Merle L. “Barney” Waters, Melissa Waters Beebe and Chester C. Waters; son, Lawrence “Watt;” and special friend, Myrtle Orcutt.

This quiet, gentle, unassuming man (and “Man of Steel” as his great-grandson, Shane; and son-in-law, Rick, called him) was beloved by all his family, indeed by all who knew him. He was renowned for his wonderful wit and friendliness. He loved his family more than words can say, and that love was always reciprocated. Going on drives, summer picnics, and Mississippi fishing trips with his family were three of his most precious pastimes. Tom was a fisherman's fisherman. He loved the sport, and that love was passed down to his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Tom will be missed tremendously by his family and by all those whose lives he touched in many wonderful ways.

In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund has been established in Tom's memory.

Please sign the online guest book for Tom at under obituaries.