IN MEMORIAM
Joseph G. Waters, 89; Principal
At Oneonta School For 21 Years
ONEONTA – Joseph George Waters, 89, Oneonta Junior High School principal for 21 years, passed away Aug. 17, 2019, in Richmond, Va., where he moved in 2016 to be near his daughter and son-in-law.
He was born on May 3, 1930, in Oneonta, to parents, George H. and Marguerite (Dumond) Waters.
Joe married the former Barbara Roach of Plattsburgh, on Aug. 16, 1952. They recently celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary.
Joe was a graduate of St. Mary’s School in Oneonta, Oneonta High School and Hartwick College, in addition to SUNY Albany.
He also was a member of the School Administrators Association of New York, National Association of Secondary Schools Principals and had a long association with the Central New York State Study Council at Syracuse University.
Joe began his career in education at Fleischmanns High School as a history teacher and later moved to Herkimer High School, where he continued teaching social studies and serving as the varsity baseball coach. He then became vice principal at Ilion High School for two years, before returning to his hometown. He was vice principal for one year at the junior high schoo, then moved up to principal, a role he filled for more than two decades.
Following his retirement from the Oneonta School System, Joe became associate director of admissions at Hartwick College, where he served seven years. There he developed the Hartwick Alumni Recruitment Team (HART), getting some 300 alumni to aid the admissions staff. He then became director of Hartwick’s student teaching.
One important priority in Joe’s life was helping the poor and underprivileged. Joe served on the College Newman Foundation, was president of The Salvation Army Advisory Board, the advisory committee for the new St. Mary’s Church and the Oneonta Kiwanis Club, which selected him for the Hixon Award in 1986. He also was a volunteer on the Executive Service Corps evaluation committee, joining the board in May 2006.
Joe’s greatest joy was sharing time with his wife, Barb, and all the traveling they did together and traveling to visit family that included his many grandchildren. He also enjoyed spending time each summer at the family camp on Lake Champlain at Plattsburgh. Joe was an avid reader of historical nonfiction and never lost his passion for learning and teaching others about American history.
He took special pride in helping Barb exhibit her paintings and did all the matting and framing himself allowing her to be able to show them at many art shows.
She survives him, as do his daughter, Nancy Stiebel (Chris), Glen Allen, Virginia; and sons, Daniel (Lynn), Griffin, Georgia, Terry (Linda), Gaithersburg, Maryland, Robert, Nashville, Tennessee and John (Sharon) Saugerties; along with 14 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren; three sisters-in-law, Peg Waters, New Jersey, Joan Amell, Connecticut and Doreen Ryan (Jim), Colorado; many nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents; brother, George; and sister, Marguerite “Peg.”
The family will receive friends at St. Michael’s Catholic Church, 4491 Springfield Road, Glen Allen, Va., at noon, Saturday, Aug. 24. A funeral mass will follow at 1 p.m..