Don “Never Better” Waite — gregarious finance whiz and Seagate executive, passionate fan of Notre Dame football, da Bears, the Cubs, his wife Anna, and anything his children ever did, burger-griller, world-traveler, prankster, mentor, and friend — died peacefully at home in Saratoga, California Thursday, June 17. He was, reportedly, “[37] and a few months.”
His many joys in a long, joyful life included good (but not great) scotch, even better wine, and rooting against his brother Father Pat’s favorite Yankees and his daughter’s Michigan Wolverines. He loved family touch-football games, skiing and biking with his children and grandchildren, cheering on robotics teams, buying ice cream cones, cookies, and donuts for employees, grandchildren, and dogs, and blowing out the candles every December 22 with his grandson Chris on their shared birthday. He enjoyed almost anything, no matter how bad he was at it, as long as he was doing it with family or friends. A few dislocated shoulders, fractured ribs, and a broken leg resulted. He might have used a curse word now and then. But he was “never better” even as he was looking up from a stretcher on a Colorado ski slope, headed for the ER.
He joined disk-drive maker Seagate as chief financial officer in 1983. He was at the forefront of Seagate’s expansion into Singapore, Thailand, and Ireland, and, according to former CEO Steve Luczo, “the financial genius behind a tax structure that still stands as the best in the world, and the wizard behind the curtain in almost every transaction Seagate executed, including the management-led buyout in 2000.” He once pulled four 1¢/share quarters from a 2¢ year. After he “unofficially” retired in 2004, he consulted on what Luczo jokingly dubbed an “Extended Interruptible Sabbatical—similar in all regards to a retirement except that, at any time, at the request of Seagate, its CEO, or Anna, Don is required to return to work, regardless of his personal desires.”
Don was known for walking office hallways just to say hello to everyone, mentoring co-workers, promoting women’s careers, and making everyone he touched feel good about themselves. Also for a quick and infectious laugh, a remarkable ability to hold a grudge, and a booming voice he didn’t hesitate to raise at the negotiating table, on the phone, and in “advising” umpires in stadiums or on TV. He and Anna endowed academic chairs and scholarships; funded medical research; and paid college tuitions and helped finance homes and businesses for family and friends. He was always there whenever anyone wanted or needed him to be.
Don was born in Sioux City, Iowa on Dec. 22, 1932. He grew up there and in LeMars, and graduated from Creighton University and Georgetown Law School.
While attending Georgetown Law School, he met and married his wife of 64 years, Anna Tyler Waite, who was the center of his life. He is survived by her and by his sons Patrick, Michael, Mark, and David Waite, daughter Meg Waite Clayton; grandchildren Tyler, Nic, Igor, Lera, Zhenya, Vadim, Jurij, and Zelda Waite, Stephanie King, and Christopher and Nicholas Clayton; great grandchildren Joyanna, Harper, Hazel, Waverly and Jack; children-in-law Ginny, Mac, Donna, and Nadia; his niece and almost-daughter Nancy Levy and myriad other nieces, nephews and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, James and Eva Waite, his siblings Jim, Pat, and Bob Waite and Margaret Traurig, and his granddaughter Mikali.
A memorial service will be held at the Church of the Ascension at 12033 Miller Ave., Saratoga, California at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, September 4. The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Donald L. Waite Scholarship fund to support four-year college educations for young men and women who have been aided by Boystown (check the box “In memory Of” at boystown.org and list “Donald Waite,” or mail to Boys Town, Attention: Waite Memorial, PO Box 8000, Boys Town, NE 68010).
