Obituary of Elizabeth "Denise" Waters

Our angel on Earth, has become our angel in Heaven.

Denise is preceded in death by her dad, John Smith, her mom, Jessie Smith and her brother, Ian Smith. She is survived by her husband, David Waters, daughter, Kristin Marsh, Son in Law, Kelly Marsh, son, Ian Sanders, daughter in law, Emily Sanders, and three beautiful grandchildren, Macie, Karlie and Barrett along with sister, June Christensen and brother in law, Steve Christensen.

Denise was born in Pasadena Texas. At a very early age, much of her time was spent practicing the accordion. Shortly thereafter, she would master this, becoming a young music prodigy, earning her an appearance on the Lawrence Welk show and landing her a spot on the "Texas Hot Shots". She would go onto win many trophies, and tour nationally, getting her a first chair win in California out of about three hundred fifty people. Her Dad shared this same love and passion, and to see them play together was an absolute treat! This was a way for Denise to pay homage to her Scottish Heritage.

Along, with her love of playing the accordion, she had an extreme adoration for animals. Growing up, there were turtles in the backyard that she tended to, and the horny toads, as well. One special pet she had was a little bird named Tweety. He was even dyed blue! Unfortunately, Denise would squish him while asleep in bed, but her love for animals would remain.

While living in Pasadena Texas, Denise would graduate from Sam Rayburn high school in 1973, and move to Dickinson Texas. After some time, Denise would marry, move to Houston Texas to start a family, and have two amazing kids, Kristin and Ian. The young family would then move to La Porte Texas, where they would make lifelong friendships, enjoy traveling, along with weekend outings. This included trips to the beach, New Braunfels and Nuevo Laredo Mexico, just to name a few.

Later in life, Denise would marry her true love, David Waters - They shared a beautiful life together while living on a little piece of land that was their personal resort, really her tropical paradise. They absolutely loved their space. Plants, pool, hot tub and everything around and in between. This was the place to be for numerous occasions, such as hosting luau's, toga parties, birthdays, Christmas eve's and especially their wedding reception. Their land would even allow for hayrides, and to play baseball.

One of her most favorite titles was being called Nene. Meeting her grandbabies for lunch, taking them to the park, or to appointments, was something that she enjoyed and never minded doing. Staying the night with Nene and Pops was always an adventure. Whether it was making jewelry, painting rocks, gardening, swimming, school clothes shopping, or even a dinner at DQ, it was always fun! Often at the holidays, they would make Christmas cookies together. This past December, Denise and Dave got to be on pig duty, taking care of "Paco the Breakfast Taco" (which is what Macie calls him), even making sure some of the other pigs were taken care of. That's just the kind of people they are! Aside from being Nene, Denise was a Mom and a wife. Denise was very involved as a mother. She would juggle her time and find a balance between working, making dinners, dance, baseball, BMX, softball, and Ag. You would often find her braiding, not only Kristin's hair, but the entire dance team's hair. Her house was the place for friends to gather. She threw the best birthday parties and created many long-lasting memories.

Denise was a very loving and supportive wife through all their adventures and mishaps. They loved fishing, enjoying all the goodies that Denise would make, but especially just being together.

Even through difficult times, she was the strength, the rock, the anchor and motivation for others to overcome life's struggles. Denise shared her love through her cooking. When family gathered, she always had the most beautiful assortment. She can make anything from nothing. Really, she can!

One of Denise's favorite places was the beach. Her and Dave purchased their dream home in 2013. The house would become a getaway and a place for family and friends to gather. While on retreat, she enjoyed golf cart rides, seafood dinners at local restaurants, meeting new people in the Sea Isle community, and especially fishing with Dave. Denise loved good food, music and above all, her family and Sammy Doodle! Denise's final days were spent on the Island of Galveston, which she loved.

Denise was an amazing woman.

"God saw that you were weary, and the road was hard to climb, so he closed your weary eyes and whispered, Peace be Thine."