Susan A Watters

- Susan Artis Watters, 83, died Friday, March 15, 2024. She was born September 4, 1940, in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Sue was a free spirit, living her final years in an RV which she drove to seasonal campgrounds. She lived longest in Greene and Knox counties, Tennessee, where she was a serial entrepreneur, founding such ventures as Alliance Press Inc. (still here) and Floppy’s Discount Software (gone).

Sue was a self-taught computer programmer, working with Phil Butler at Digital Innovations Inc. and later doing contract work for towns in Florida. She once designed a website for a motorcycle dealership that was slow to pay. Sue replaced the site with dancing pink elephants, resulting in prompt payment. In mid-life, Sue bought a 30-foot sailboat and had it delivered to Watts Bar Lake. THEN she hired a sailing instructor. She sailed solo from Knoxville to someplace in Florida, lived on the boat for a while and sold it (always, everything for a profit).

She leaves a sister, Sherri Watters Nock, of Jupiter, Florida, and a niece, Shannon Nock Booth (Dennis) of Orlando. Sue quotes: When she traded her condo for the last RV she wrote, “Why sit here waiting to die? I’d rather be eaten by a bear.” In her 20s and 30s, she specialized in swimming, skiing, biking, hiking, running and paddleball. “Most people do it backwards,” she said. “I’m going to play hard while I’m young and work hard when I get old.”

Sue was always connected. While living on the sailboat, she ran a phone line to her dock so she could work and communicate. While camping, she had a Starlink satellite connection. Susan Watters left “best friends” across America. In April 2015 she wrote, “Best friends are those who don’t say anything when you show up at their door with a dead body. They just grab a shovel and follow you.” R.I.P. Sue Watters. And watch out for that bear.