Rosa Eloise Waters

“Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the spirit, that they rest from their labor; and their works do follow them.” Rosa Eloise Franklin Waters, age 86, peacefully departed this life on Saturday, August 29, 2020. Born on June 27, 1934, in Cullen, Virginia, she was the third of six children and the first of two daughters born to the late Josephine Elizabeth and John L. Franklin. At an early age, she professed her faith in God and joined Saint Andrews Baptist Church. From that point onward, the love of God, her family, and friends remained at the center of her life. After graduating from Central High School in 1951, she became a student, majoring in mathematics, at Virginia Union University. While in college, she became a member of the Alpha Eta Chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. During her freshman year, a friend convinced her to go on a blind date with a seminary student, Irving Waters, who remained “devotedly hers” for over forty-three years. They married in 1953 and had three daughters: Cherri, Irvenia, and Melonese. But she also opened her heart and homes to many others who she informally adopted as her own. She served, side-by-side her husband, at three Virginia churches: Macedonia Baptist Church in Newport News (two years), Pine Street Baptist in Covington (four years), and Mount Hermon Baptist Temple (thirty-five years). At Mount Hermon, she made young people the focus of her ministry and was a founder and leader of the Youth Fellowship and the Templeaires, a young people’s choir. Our dear Mother, Grandmother, Aunt, Sister, and friend leaves many to miss her dearly: her daughters, Cherri Waters, Irvenia Waters, and Melonese Privott; sons-in-law, Raymond Crowel and Jose Allen; grandchildren, Doris Waters, Darryl Waters, Dominique Clay, Clifton Privott, Jeffrey Allen, and Elizabeth Grace Allen; great-grandchildren, Kennedy Carter, Kahlil Waters, Boston Waters, and King Privott; remaining brothers, McCoy Franklin and Earl Franklin; sisters-in-law, Ruby Franklin and Doris Franklin; twenty-five nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews; adopted sons, William Reverly and Paris Eley; adopted daughter, Lynnell Spruill; as well as a host of other relatives, godchildren, and loyal friends. We will miss her love, her radiant smile, and hearing her hum her favorite hymns, but will take comfort in knowing that she is at rest and will stand on the promise that she is with God. The life celebration service will be live streamed from Mount Hermon Baptist Temple. Please visit their website on Facebook.

Rosa Eloise Waters

June 27, 1934 - August 29, 2020