Waite, Donald
Don “Never Better” Waite — gregarious finance whiz and Seagate executive, passionate fan of 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 88.
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. He loved family touch-football games, skiing and biking with his children and grandchildren, cheering on robotics teams, and buying treats for grandchildren and dogs. He enjoyed almost anything, no matter how bad he was at it, as long as he was doing it with family or friends, and he was always “never better,” even as he was looking up from a stretcher on a Colorado ski slope, headed for the ER.
Don 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.”
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.
Don was born in Sioux City, Iowa on Dec. 22, 1932. He grew up there and in LeMars and graduated from Creighton University. 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 children Patrick, Michael, Mark, and David Waite and Meg Waite Clayton; grandchildren Tyler, Nic, Igor, Lera, Zhenya, Vadim, Jurij, and Zelda Waite, Stephanie King, and Christopher and Nicholas Clayton, and myriad great-grandchildren, in-laws, 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 (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).
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