David W. Waties, retired Philadelphia and N.J. lawyer, dies at 61
A partner in the Waties & Waties law office in Philadelphia before opening a solo practice in New Jersey, Mr. Waties was known for his wit, tenacity and love for debating the law, his family said.
David W. Waties, 61, of Cherry Hill, a retired lawyer who practiced in Philadelphia and New Jersey, died Friday, March 18, at the Samaritan Center in Voorhees, from complications of a series of strokes he suffered early last year.
Mr. Waties was known for his wit, tenacity, and love for debating the law, his family said. He was also a history buff and a tournament chess player, hobbies he shared with his father.
For about 20 years, Mr. Waties was a partner in the Philadelphia law office Waties & Waties, which he formed with his sister, Carol Waties, also an attorney. He later opened a solo office in Marlton, specializing in federal appellate and business law.
Mr. Waties’ daughter Danielle Waties described him as a family man who loved his home life.
He would wake up before sunrise and work in his home office, writing briefs or developing trial strategies, while his wife and daughters were still asleep.
David Wayne Waties was born Nov. 8, 1960, in Philadelphia to Wendell M. Waties, a family physician, and Alice Rowe Waties, a nurse. He was the second eldest of four children.
He was about 10 or 11 when the family moved to Cherry Hill, where Mr. Waties graduated from Cherry Hill East High School in 1978.
Mr. Waties graduated from Dickinson College with a bachelor’s degree in political science and government in 1982. It was there he met his future wife, Darlene Brindle. He was a junior and she was a freshman.
The attraction was instant, his family said in a statement: “Dave confided to his sister Carol late that evening, ‘I met the girl I’m gonna marry.’”
The two married in 1984 and would later have two daughters.
The next year, in 1985, Mr. Waties graduated from Dickinson School of Law (now the Dickinson School of Law of Pennsylvania State University) and opened his own law office in Center City in 1986.
Nearly two years later, with his sister having graduated from Widener University School of Law, the siblings started the Waties & Waties law office in 1988.
They handled a variety of cases from criminal defense law, to civil litigation, family law, business, real estate, and other matters.
His daughter Danielle said, “He was a workaholic, but he still managed to come to violin concerts, softball games, dance recitals, and volleyball games.”
She also described Mr. Waties as a social butterfly, making good impressions on those he met.
“He always knew how to charm the room,” Danielle Waties said.
His wife, a former page designer for the Philadelphia Daily News, died in 2013.
Mr. Waties, who retired around 2007, developed an interest in Facebook, exploring the internet and joining the Kitabu Book Club in South Jersey.
Early in 2021, he suffered a series of strokes and was hospitalized. While he fought to regain his health, he was recently placed in hospice care.
In addition to his daughter and sister, he is survived by another daughter, Stephanie; two brothers; two nieces; two nephews; and other relatives and friends.
Donations in his memory may be made to the inpatient hospice care team at Samaritan Center at Voorhees, 267 NJ-73, Voorhees Township, N.J. 08043.
A funeral was held March 26.