About Travis Waites

Our family lost Travis on August 27, 1995. He was much like most young men in that he carefully picked which of life's challenges were worth consideration. He didn't care for homework, but found learning easy, almost boring. While trying to find a hobby that might interest him, a friend suggested SCUBA diving. He found this activity worthy of his attention and he pursued every opportunity to obtain extra training and experience. By the time he was 16, he was an accomplished SCUBA diver with a Master SCUBA Diver certification. His goal was to become a commercial diver after high school. He would often be found at local lakes on weekends with his SCUBA buddies, Randy and Lloyd, his Dad, or all of them. He liked participating with his adult dive buddies who were mostly instructors and divemasters. He was at home in this environment.

Travis' mother, Kathy, often expressed her appreciation of Travis' habit of sneaking up on her while she was working in the kitchen, and giving her a big hug and telling her what a wonderful Mom she was. His father, Gary, who started diving after Travis, always seemed amazed at Travis' accomplishments, as were most of Travis' friends. His father has continued his diving activities with Travis' diving buddies. His sister, Sarah is now an PADI Open Water diver too.