Waters, Alice (Becker) 1934 - 2021

WATERS, BECKER, BATY, TAYLOR, MOY, LUMPE

Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 8/3/2021 at 11:06:25

Alice Becker Waters, age 86, of Mount Clemens, Michigan died peacefully in her sleep on July 29, 2021.

Survivors include children Steven Waters (Jadine Moy) of San Ramon,CA, Michael Waters of Mt Clemens, Patrick Waters of Chicago, IL, Anne Baty (Donald) of Grosse Pointe Park, Julie Waters of Lawrence, KS, and Jean Taylor (Tim) of Livonia. Also survived by her grandchildren David and Elana Baty, William and Christian Waters, Emma Lumpe and Mia Waters, and Kevin and Shannon Taylor. Preceded in death by her husband of 64 years, William (Bill) Waters, and her brother Francis Becker.

She was born in Benton County, IA on September 25, 1934 to Frank and Marjorie Becker. She grew up on a farm outside of Norway, Iowa where she attended school through high school and played saxophone in the marching band. She earned a B.S. in home economics from Iowa State and married Bill in 1956. She taught high school home economics for a year.

The next phase of her life focused on raising her children after moving to Michigan. She had six children in seven years and somehow managed to keep them all safe without ever using a playpen. Never a homebody at heart, she became president of her children’s nursery school and then taught preschool. She was active in St Athanasius Church and broader Catholic initiatives including CCD, Marriage Encounter, and the Christian Family Movement. In 1970 when her children were all in school she went back to college to study professional food service.

She began working at St John Hospital Food Services in 1971, was promoted to Assistant Food Service Director in 1974, Director in 1975, and combined Director of Food Services and Nutrition in 1980. She retired in 1996. Her overall mission as Director was to improve the quality of hospital food for patients, employees and visitors and to change what people thought about hospital food. She immediately banned canned fruit cocktail and replaced it with fresh fruit. As an innovator who had the ability to see what was possible and how to achieve it, she expanded and revitalized food services at the hospital, hired chefs, and opened the café and bakery for retail sales at the hospital. As an administrator, she set high standards and treated everyone with love, respect, and care. She was the first woman to direct Food Services at St John and did so while raising six children during a time when careers for women with children were not supported. Recognizing the potential of other women, she strongly encouraged them to get the education to further their careers.

She was a strong advocate for education, insisting that education is never wasted. All six of her children earned college degrees, including six bachelors degrees and seven graduate degrees. She earned an M.A. of Health Administration from Central Michigan University in 1983 by attending night classes while working full-time.

Alice was a social person at her core. For several decades, she enjoyed attending University of Michigan football games. More than the football, she enjoyed being with and sharing a meal with her children after the game. For 22 years she and Bill spent winters in Gulf Shores, AL, often with friends from Michigan. She invited family and friends to visit and enjoyed side trips visiting family and friends on the way to and from AL. She was a member of the St Louis Parish for over 40 years and enjoyed singing in the church choir both in Gulf Shores and at St Louis Parish.

She loved annual family vacations to beautiful places such as Maine, Colorado, Isle Royale, California, the Canadian Rockies and the family farms in Iowa. She particularly enjoyed going to Europe and visiting historical sites such as the village church where Silent Night was written. In her retirement years, she and Bill continued to travel extensively and visited 43 countries on six continents.

She was eternally positive and optimistic. She frequently told her children, grandchildren and children's spouses how proud she was of their accomplishments and she beamed whenever she talked about them. Each new spouse, grandchild and friend was welcomed into her family with genuine warmth. Everyone became part of her growing family as evidenced by the special long expanding dining table that could hold 18 family members at once.

In the last two decades of her life she developed memory loss which became Alzheimer’s. Through it all she had the grace to maintain a pleasant demeanor and smile often. She continued to enjoy social interactions and delighted in her dedicated caregivers--Nargis and Dessie. Her appreciation for music was evident even near the end of her life when a well sung favorite song would be rewarded with eye contact and a smile. Determined to help prevent others from experiencing memory loss, she served as a research subject in an Alzheimer’s research study and donated her brain for research upon her death.

Memorial contributions can be made to the University of Michigan’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Fund 307386 at Homepage | Giving to UM.

Services will be held at St. Louis Parish, 24415 Crocker Blvd., Clinton Township, MI 48036 on Thursday, August 5, 2021 instate at 10:30AM with funeral mass at 11:00AM. Interment will follow at Resurrection Cemetery. Share memories and express condolences at www.vickfuneralhome.com.

Source: Vick Funeral Home database