Antony J Waters
West 1940-44
Antony John Waters, known as Tim, passed away on April 18, 2022, aged 96. He was the eldest of three brothers, all of whom attended The Leys. Tim had a very happy time at school, spending one term in Cambridge before the school moved to Pitlochry at the start of 1940 Autumn term. There, sharing a room with Derek Wheatley in one of the towers of the Atholl Palace Hotel, he forged lifelong friendships as well as an enduring love of Scotland. He revisited Pitlochry regularly in his retirement years driving up from Birmingham until his late 80s.
On leaving school he had hoped to join the Royal Engineers, following his father Sir Arnold Waters VC. However, this was not to be. His National Registration number designated him as a ‘Bevin Boy’, requiring him to work down the mines unless marks in School Certificate examinations qualified him for a university place. Necessary marks achieved, he studied Mechanical Engineering at Birmingham University sponsored by REME (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers), achieving a first class honours degree.
Graduating after the end of the war he joined his father as a consulting engineer in Birmingham, becoming a founding partner of AHS Waters and Partners in 1955 and, later, senior partner. The partnership flourished, joining Mott, Hay and Anderson (later Mott MacDonald), in 1985 becoming the Birmingham regional office. Tim was a Director of the combined firm until retirement, continuing as a consultant until the age of 70.
He had a long and happy retirement enjoying family, friends, his garden and, perhaps most especially, his succession of English Bull Terriers. He always maintained that their daily walk in the park was one of the main reasons that he lived so long.
He leaves his wife of 65 years, Ann, their three daughters, six grandchildren and two great grandchildren.