Bishop James Stanton, Father Emmet Waits and Fathe
Bishop James Stanton, Father Emmett Waits and Father David Houk
Father Emmett Waits celebrated his 90th birthday at a party in his honor at St. John’s Episcopal Church on Sunday afternoon, April 7.
Following the 10:30 Eucharist, the congregation, friends and family gathered in St. John’s parish hall for a champagne brunch, birthday cake and a video to mark the birthday.
Emmett Morris Waits was born April 6, 1923 and spent his childhood in Indiana and Kentucky. He earned his BA at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky.
Before becoming a priest, he was a journalist and worked for The Lexington Herald and The Louisville Courier-Journal. As a journalist, he had the opportunity to interview many famous and remarkable people like Helen Keller and Eleanor Roosevelt. “I loved journalism and had I not been called to the ministry, I would likely have continued in that field," he said.
He attended seminary at St. Luke’s School of Theology at The University of the South in Sawanee, Tennessee. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1949.
He did graduate work in England at St. Augustine’s College in Canterbury and at Oxford University in Oxford. He received his doctorate at SMU.
Father Waits served as Chaplain at the Canterbury House at North Texas State University, now known as the University of North Texas, and recalls that working with college students was an especially memorable experience.
He was also Chaplain at Parkland Memorial Hospital and the old Gaston Hospital in Dallas.
He was ready to retire when he was asked to serve as assistant priest at St. John’s Episcopal Church in East Dallas. Putting off retirement, he served at St. John’s from 1989 to 2003.
Finally retired, Father Waits now lives at Autumn Leaves Retirement Center with his 12-year-old rat terrier, Sassy, whom he describes as another blessing from God.