William "Bill" Burns Waff

passed away on December 19, 2020, in the Town of Fuquay-Varina, at the age of 79. He left

behind his wife of almost 58 years, Ellen Coutts Waff, and his three daughters, Meg Waff, Sarah

Waff, and Rebeccah Waff Cope. Bill’s death came just two days before Jupiter and Saturn met

in a “great conjunction,” the closest they were seen in the sky together for nearly 800 years.

Born on May 2, 1941 in Albemarle County, Virginia, Bill was the son of Charles Manly Waff Jr.

and his wife Mary Elizabeth Carper, both of Virginia, and the older brother of the late Dr. Craig

Beale Waff. Bill and Craig shared interests in astronomy and space travel; in fact, their names

are engraved on the Voyager satellites, which are now out beyond our solar system. Bill loved

all things space, and science fiction stories as well, including Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who,

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and Dune, among many others.

FAMILY ROOTS

Bill was the great-great-great-great-grandson of William Smith Waff who married Celia Seward

in 1758 and signed the Oath of Allegiance in Chowan County, North Carolina, in 1776, and

whose son, Thomas Smith Waff, was a haberdasher in Edenton with known marine-merchant

connections to New York. Thomas married Sarah Hall in 1796 and died in 1803. Thomas had

owned several lots in the old part of the Town of Edenton and the Waff family had roots in the

Yeopim area in Chowan County. They may have immigrated to the area in 1714 or earlier from

southside Virginia. Bill’s family reconnected with descendants of Thomas’ line in recent

decades, notably Paul Waff and his daughter Stephanie, after almost 200 years! Paul called Bill

his “cousin”, although they unfortunately never got to meet directly.

Analysis of Bill’s DNA revealed colonial connections to the Waugh and Lee families of the

Northern Neck area of Virginia. There is a proven connection to the Wauchope family of

Roxburgshire, Waughs of Scattergate, and Waffs of Yorkshire in England, and Bill’s family may

have traveled through the Isle of Wight area in Cornwall. Bill inherited an embroidered coats of

arms, with the heraldry as follows “argent, on a chevron gules three bezants”, and which

includes the motto: “Nec timere nec timide” (neither rashly nor timidly). The Bishop of Carlisle,

John Waugh, bore this same coat of arms circa 1723 and his son, Parson John William Waugh,

traveled to the Stafford County (Aquia) area of Virginia, in the Overwharton Parish. Whether

there is a family connection to Bill is unknown but likely.

The Edenton NC haberdasher’s son, Thomas Edward Smith Waff (Bill’s

great-great-great-grandfather), was born in 1797, just 4 years before his father’s death. Later in

life, in 1818, he married Mary Carpenter, the daughter of Captain Stephen Carpenter. Captain

Carpenter had merchant ships in the West Indies that were seized in 1800 by the French

government, for one of which he was never compensated - the ‘New York Packet’, valued at

$12,000. The other two were the ‘Sabina Hearne’ and the ‘Nancy’. Our government was

expected to pay for these lost ships, but Congress passed a law not to pay any more of the

French spoilation claims after the treaty with France. Bill’s great-great-grandfather, Joseph

Thomas Waff, and great-grandfather, William Benbury Waff, both appealed this ruling during

their lifetimes, as late as 1909, but without effect.

RELIGIOUS LEANINGS

Thomas Edward Smith Waff, and his wife, Mary Carpenter, were Episcopalians, but when

Thomas was forty-five years old, he converted to the Baptist belief and in 1842 was ordained to

preach at old Sandy Creek Church. (Bill inherited their family bible, which is now with his

daughter, Rebeccah.) His son, Joseph Thomas Waff, and grandson, William Benbury Waff,

were also Baptist pastors. William and his brother, Thomas Edward, both attended Wake Forest

College (where he was the recipient of the Latin Medal), and they helped to operate the

Reynoldson Institute from 1873 to 1887.

More than a hundred years later, their descendant, Bill, and his wife, Ellen, who was raised

Episcopalian, choose another way – Wicca, a nature-based practice, which they shared with a

community group in Maryland known as Synergy from 1984 to 1997, and still stay in contact

with one another afterward. (Bill’s full beard gave him an excellent look of the “Green Man”. His

chosen name in this group was “Tellus”.)

CHILDHOOD ADVENTURES

Bill had always loved the outdoors, as well as camping, hiking, exploring geology, finding

lighthouses, and watching steam trains. As a child, he had participated in the Boy Scouts of

America and traveled to Valley Forge and to an International Jamboree in England; he later

became an Eagle Scout.

Other interests of Bill’s included watching movies and sports (especially baseball, including his

favorite team - the Yankees), adding to his library, and building his large stamp collection which

covered diverse topics such as space and science fiction, nature topics, and folk traditions. He

also loved eating seafood, especially calamari, and he did so whenever the opportunity afforded

it. He loved the scalloped oysters that Ellen made every year for Christmas Eve!

Bill had a collection of old photos of the great outdoors (now with daughter Rebeccah) that were

taken by his grandfather, Charles Manly Waff, Sr., mainly around Franklin, Virginia, where

“Manly” worked with the Camp Manufacturing Company logging and sawmill operation, which

advertised for “kiln-dried Carolina pine”. Bill’s family has a letter written by Manly in 1906 that’s

on the company letterhead. Franklin was where Manly’s wife, Elizabeth Beale, was from and

they appeared to have made many good friends there. Manly is known to have attended the

University of Virginia for at least one year.

World War II took Bill’s family out of Virginia, as the navigational work that Bill’s father, Charles

Manly Waff, Jr., or “Charlie”, did with American Airlines and LanChile Airlines caused them to

relocate to Queens in New York and Plainview on Long Island. A favorite family story involved

an opportunity that Charlie had during WWII, to meet King George VI and Queen Elizabeth,

who, in a crowded room, approached him because he was wearing the unusual civilian

American Airlines uniform.

During his childhood, Bill developed a love of aged Smithfield Ham, especially because Bill’s

father, Charlie, was given one every year at Christmas by Mr. George Byrne, for whom he

worked in New York City. (Bill’s family kept up this tradition almost every year at Christmastime,

despite the need to bury the super salty pieces of ham with mounds of mashed potatoes). Later

in life, Bill enjoyed snacking on high quality aged meat jerky of many kinds, which apparently

went down especially well with cold beer, particularly dark, thick oatmeal stouts.

MILITARY SERVICE AND MARRIAGE

Bill attended the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, and graduated with

honors with the Class of 1963. During his time at the academy, he trained on the tall ship, the

USCGC Eagle, a 295-foot barque. Bill was on this training ship when President John Kennedy

was in office and paid the ship a visit. Bill’s family has a photo of Bill up on one of the yards from

this event. Bill took two European trips on this ship. On one of these trips, he brought back

home the Belgian lace wedding veil that was later worn by his bride and subsequently by his

daughter, Rebeccah, when she married.

While in the Academy, Bill participated in a college musical, where he met his wife, Ellen, who

was attending Connecticut College. They later attended the Coast Guard Ring Dance together

and went on several dates (a few of which got Bill in trouble because the train he took got him

back to base late). Bill and Ellen graduated around the same time and were married a week and

a half later at Trinity Church on the Green in New Haven, CT, with brother Craig and Ellen’s late

sister, Mary Coutts Ehrler at their sides, along with their parents and friends.

After graduation, in 1963, Bill was assigned to his first duty station in Miami Beach, Florida,

where he served as an Ensign on the USCGC Androscoggin, a 255-foot cutter which served

primarily as an Ocean Weather Stations vessel in the Atlantic Ocean. In Miami, Bill and Ellen

were happy to have access to a key lime tree with ample fruit with which to make pies. Ellen

liked the flavor so much that she was gifted a tree for the family to have and it moved with them

several times. Eventually it was planted at Bill’s father’s place in North Miami and it became a

tradition for him to bring them fruit from the tree.

Next in Key West, Florida, Bill served as Captain of the 95-foot USCGC Cape Darby, during

which time the crew had to ride out a hurricane while on the cutter and also picked up Cuban

refugees in the Straits of Florida. Bill’s Coast Guard experiences were featured in the television

show “To Tell the Truth” in which Bill was the actual person being described. One of the other

three contestants was a New York Jets football linebacker!

STARTING A FAMILY

In the autumn of 1964, in South Miami, Bill and Ellen’s first daughter, Margret, better known as

“Meg,” was born. Bill was unable to be by Ellen’s side for the birth as he was required to be

on-board the ship. He had to receive word of Meg’s birth by way of a telegram.

WAR-TIME IN VIETNAM

In early 1966, Bill was assigned to the Coast Guard Squadron One in Vietnam to support

Operation Market-time, which was blocking Vietnamese junks from smuggling in ammunition

and guns. After receiving survival training for a month in California, Bill left for Vietnam. The

closest Bill ever got to visiting Hawaii was on his way to Vietnam, but they didn’t stop for tourist

purposes. Bill was stationed in Phu Quoc in south Vietnam. Upon arrival, his plane, which was a

commercial-sized airliner, had to do evasive maneuvers. During this time, Bill’s wife, Ellen, and

young daughter, Meg, back home in the U.S. relocated to CT to live near Ellen’s parents until

Bill returned.

In Vietnam, Bill served as Captain of the USCGC Point Glover, which had to be dry-docked up

the Mekong River in Saigon for 3 weeks shortly after Bill’s arrival, because of a bent main shaft.

Bill’s cutter was involved in transporting important people and supplies, and he told his family

about having to toss luggage from one ship to another, and transfer passengers, when the

ships’ crested the waves at the same time. Bill’s wife Ellen had a scare back home at this time,

as a hotel in Saigon was bombed by the Viet Cong in April. Ellen did not know for a while that

Bill was not staying in the hotel that had been bombed.

Bill was exposed to Agent Orange during this time and also reported having seen plumes of the

gas drifting towards his ship off-shore. This likely affected his health for many years. Bill filed for

veterans disability several times during his post-service lifetime but was denied the claim. The

Blue Water Navy Act of 2019 finally recognized that exposure had taken place, even for those

serving in the Coast Guard. The family hopes to get his ship officially listed still.

GETTING BACK HOME

When Bill was shipped back home from Vietnam in February 1967, his wife Ellen and her sister

Mary had to drive from CT to pick him up from the Port Authority in New York after 11:30 p.m.,

where they had never been before, and which was not in a great part of town. Ellen and Mary’s

parents watched their young children back home. Bill had traveled through the Travis Air Force

Base in FL and then had to take a bus from the McGuire Air Force base in New Jersey to NY. It

was snowing and they had to give Bill a jacket because he was wearing his tropical uniform.

THE FAMILY GROWS

After Bill’s time in Vietnam, the Coast Guard sent him to Groton, CT, for three months and then

to the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, where he earned a Masters degree in

Electrical Engineering and where his second daughter, Sarah, was born in the autumn of 1968.

Bill was present for her birth.

The Waffs bought their first Volkswagen Bus, a red one, while in CA, for $2,000. While in the

West, Bill made sure that the family visited numerous national parks, including Yosemite, where

he felt a soul-lifting connection. The family often went camping.

Daughter number three, Rebeccah, was on the way before the family was transferred again by

the Coast Guard back to the East Coast, near Washington, D.C. The family moved to Bowie,

Maryland, and Rebeccah, or “Becky”, was born in the spring of 1970. Bill was in attendance for

her birth. At the time, he worked at the Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

While in Maryland, Bill was honored to be named by the Coast Guard to serve on a committee

for the 1972 Nixon Inaugural Parade. But after he attended the first meeting, other committee

members complained about Bill’s beard, which they found to be objectionable for a uniformed

officer, even though it was allowed in the Coast Guard. Bill was unwilling to lose the beard, so

he stepped off the committee. To be funny, friends later sent Bill a postcard saying: “Ha ha -

Tricky Dick didn’t like you!”, which Bill and Ellen found hilarious.

MILITARY MOVES

Next, in 1972, while Bill was still working at the Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington D.C.,

the family moved to Columbia, Maryland. Columbia was a planned community with diverse

residents, which they greatly enjoyed and where they made lasting friendships. Sadly, the

construction for the house had been delayed by 6 months so the family did not get much time to

enjoy living there.

Bill was transferred to Mississippi in 1973. There he worked with the MS Test Facility, where

they tested rocket engines, although Bill was on the Data Buoy Project (these buoys are still in

use today). Now in the Deep South, the family experienced some culture shock, but they greatly

enjoyed the Mardi Gras Celebrations and the beignets and found a great family dog named

Pippi. Everyone was impressed with the size of the grasshoppers.

The engine of the family’s first VW bus had blown up on the New Jersey Turnpike. A second

VW bus, a white one, was purchased while the family lived in Mississippi and, especially in

summertime, trips were taken north (often without Bill who was working) to visit Ellen’s family in

CT and to go camping with her sister and her kids in VT, where everyone enjoyed visiting a cow

farm and swimming in a natural pond. The family especially loved taking trips to visit the

Crowley Cheese Factory and the VT Country Store, where maple sugar candies and barrel

pickles were special treats!

One VW-bus related memory that the family has often told took place at Casselman River

Bridge State Park in Garrett County, MD, where the family had gone sledding with their

Columbia neighbors, the Mergners. The beloved family dog, named Melissa, was on the trip

with them and the family somehow managed to leave her behind at the park (Bill and Ellen each

thought the other one had secured the dog). They realized their mistake when they were about

an hour away and turned around. When they got back to the park, Melissa was sitting patiently

where the family’s bus had been parked. Everyone, including the dog, hugged each other and

cried at their reunion.

OUR MARYLAND MILL TOWN

After spending almost 3 years in MS, from October 1973 to July 1976, the family was

transferred back to Maryland, where they purchased a home in the textile mill town known as

Savage. The historic mill was revitalized while the family lived in town into an arts and antiques

center, but it had once been used to house a circus and a Christmas town. The family enjoyed

taking walks together along the river below the mill and viewing the mill works and the historic

Bollman Truss Bridge. Later, they were particularly fond of the French bakery that came to town!

Favorite family adventures took place in Columbia, where they used to live and where there was

an impressive and modern shopping mall, which had water features, sculptures, and a working

carousel, and also Ellicott City, Annapolis, Frederick, Washington D.C. (especially to the

Smithsonian Institution museums, such as Air & Space (where the kids always bought astronaut

ice cream), Natural History, American History, and the National Gallery of Art); and Baltimore,

where the tall ship, the U.S.S. Constellation (1854) was moored in the Inner Harbor.

The family enjoyed going to several concerts together, including Shawn Cassidy (with so many

screaming, smitten kids), Sha-Na-Na, and the rock band Styx, when the girls were teenagers,

and Pink Floyd (after Rebeccah graduated from college). They also loved attending, and singing

and dancing at, the Washington Christmas Revels production at the Lisner Auditorium on the

campus of George Washington University in D.C., which became an annual tradition.

LIFE AT BEECHTREE FARM

In 1978, the family purchased a second house in Savage from Mrs. Spence - an 1890s

farmhouse - and moved to the 6 ¾-acre property they called “Beechtree Farm”, which did not

have central heat (it has a kerosene stove and woodstoves) nor air conditioning. The front porch

was the best room of the house! The family hosted diverse celebrations under some grand old

specimen trees, and where Bill’s daughter, Rebeccah, was married on the property to John

Arthur Cope III in May 1997. Many friends came together there, after feeling like “misfit toys”

elsewhere, and lifelong bonds were formed.

Especially memorable were the seasonal circles and late night gatherings of friends,

Thanksgiving meals spent with neighbors (where the famous “Boyfriend the rooster” story was

always told and where the family learned to love cranberry-habanero relish, thanks to Herbert,

their Texan neighbor) and the annual Christmas Eve gatherings, made festive with oh so many

holiday treats that were made by Ellen and other people, and the homemade eggnog by Bill’s

daughter Meg.

Bill and family grew a large garden (using a large rototiller that took both Bill and Ellen to turn

around), which was tricky since there were groundhogs around (they got drunk on fermented

pears and even walked over Rebeccah’s feet on one occasion). They tended a menagerie of

farm animals, including poultry and waterfowl, goats (the family made cheese from their milk), a

few sheep, a Welsh pony named “Lucky Charm”, a donkey named “Yorick”, and a frisky Jersey

cow with horns named “Britta”, who was driven down to MD from Shepard’s Farm in CT in the

family’s VW bus and often liked to break free from her pen to trot through town (neighbors knew

who to call when that happened). At one point, the family had 32 geese, 56 chickens, and 24

cats, plus a couple of dogs and a free-flying cockatiel known as the “air piranha.”

Farm animals can be challenging to work with, which Bill found out when he tried to repaint the

house porches and put up Christmas lights. One of the wether male goats, named Cappy, put

his muzzle in the green paint and short-circuited the lights by eating them. Bill was so mad!

Frodo, a buck, would also often break out of his open to visit the lady goats, or they would break

out to visit him!

Bill’s kids were impressed with the heavy sacks of grain that he carried from the cars to the farm

sheds for the animals, some of which were 100 pounds in weight. And a fond childhood memory

for them involved the giant piles of hay bales that Bill and Ellen would bring home for the

animals, which then became makeshift playgrounds (i.e., pretend castles and forts). Bill would

get frustrated at the loose hay that ended up everywhere (even in the kids’ pants)!

The family enjoyed having an above ground pool while on the farm, although setting it up every

year was quite a trial and doing so frustrated Bill to no end. It was tricky to get everything lined

up correctly and to keep everyone focused on the task at hand. It usually took several attempts.

After set-up, a few whirlpools along the way caused the pool to collapse, much to Bill’s chagrin.

RENAISSANCE TIMES

The family participated in the Maryland Renaissance Festival for decades, both in Columbia and

Crownsville, where the festival moved to in 1985.The family attended the first year as visitors in

1977; Ellen sang with a musical group the second year, then served as an area manager the

third year; and Bill was an area manager during the fourth year, while Ellen sold handmade

baskets. The family has fond memories of Bill participating in the “human chess games” and

how he would step backstage to be “beheaded” when his piece was taken out of the game - he

would make the best sounds! In later years at the festival, Ellen did Tarot card readings and

sold hot cider, and, after the festival moved to its second site, the family bought a craft vendor’s

booth in 1986 and began their “Frills & Furbelows” venture, which they continued through 1991.

The family interacted with many people who would later become famous, including Avner the

Eccentric, the Flying Karamazov Brothers, Johnny Fox, Penn and Teller, and, among others,

Patch Adams, who memorably danced as a giant tooth during a participants’ party after hours.

While in MD, Bill and Ellen helped to plan the Potomac Celtic Festival, and Ellen performed

there as a singer and storyteller. In the late 1990s, they both also participated in the St.

Andrews Society, where Ellen served as President for a time. (They continued to interact with

this group after they moved from MD to CT, too, and also helped to plan for the CT Goshen

Games.)

BIG CATS AND CIRCUS PERFORMERS

Beginning in 1981 or 1982, the family allowed a family of circus performers and animal trainers

(whom they met through the Maryland Renaissance Festival) to live on their farm property -

namely John and Barbara Marrone, with their two kids and their animals including two leopards

and a monkey, bear, ferret, and other animals, much to the daughters’ delight. Ellen had an

affinity to the circus due to having a family connection to the Gilbert-Grady Circus in Indiana,

through her great-grandmother, Piccolominnie (or “Minnie”) Gilbert Johnson, who was adopted

to be the tiny baby of the little people.

POST-RETIREMENT WORK

Bill retired from the Coast Guard in 1983 – after 20 years of service. He received several medals

and commendations, including the Navy Commendation Medal with V for valor, Navy Unit

Commendation Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Republic of

Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation, Civil Actions Medal, First Class Color and Republic of

Vietnam Campaign Medal.

After retiring and for 16 years, Bill worked with the Vector Research Corporation in Rockville

MD, but he mostly worked at Carderock, the submarine test facility, where he helped to design

Virginia-class nuclear submarines and worked on ship cavitation issues.

While working at Vector, Bill had an opportunity to go deep sea fishing with his boss off the

coast of North Carolina, which he truly enjoyed. He brought home 69 pounds of yellowfin tuna!

During this time, in November 1994, Bill and Ellen finally got to travel to England, Scotland,

Wales and Cornwall together. They had wanted to visit these countries for a long time, so when

they finally got there, they put over 2,400 miles on the rental car!

PLANNING AND ZONING EFFORTS

During his time off from work from Vector, Bill and Ellen were greatly involved in the Savage

Community Association, with which they planned the “Savage Fest” event and got involved with

other town business. Bill also served on the Zoning Board of Appeals for Howard County, for

which he was paid for his efforts. During their time in Savage, MD, Bill and Ellen fought many

conservation-related battles with local area developers and Bill revised the book known as the

“Complete Zoning Activist” for county use.

BACK TO CONNECTICUT

Bill, Ellen, and daughter Meg moved to Middlefield, Connecticut in 2002, with 12 geese, two

giant dogs, and 24 cats in tow. They moved into a colonial beauty called the Talcott-Birdsey

House, which was built sometime in the mid 1740s. Ellen wanted to live closer to her sister,

Mary, and also to rediscover the state of CT, where she had grown up and met Bill.

The old house sat on a 3-acre property with a small pond downhill of the house and a larger

town reservoir within view. The wildlife there was amazing! They had a regular flock of wild

turkeys and a herd of deer come through, and there were also regular visits from Great Horned

Owls, Skunks, Racoons, and they even spied a Bobcat!

Later that same year, Bill moved his dad, Charlie, from way down in Florida to CT, helped him

find a place to live, and took care of him, until he passed away in 2004.

While in CT, Bill became involved in the Planning and Zoning Board for the Town of Middlefield,

and he continued to serve in this capacity until his health began to decline years later.

MOVING CLOSER TO FAMILY

With Ellen and daughter Meg, Bill made the final relocation of his lifetime in September 2019 to

Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, to be near where daughter Rebeccah lived. The family only had

a few months of time together before the COVID-19 pandemic threw their community and the

world into disarray. Despite that, they found time to be together and took several road trips, to

see nearby parks, lakes, and historic towns. Bill enjoyed the homemade ice cream from Sunny

Skies in Angier and Maple View Farm in Pittsboro.

On the last trip they took together, they visited the New Hope Valley Railway, where they were

fortunate to find a gathering of train engineers with whom they had a fine conversation. Ellen

told tales of previous rides they’d had on steam trains throughout the United States, while Bill

listened and gazed at the cars. There had been an engagement on one of the trains just as the

family arrived and the engineers were getting ready for the “Santa Train”. We joked that they

needed to put Bill to work, as he made an excellent Santa Claus in his later years!

Likely due to his exposure to Agent Orange, Bill had built an extensive medical record over

many years. He was cared for at Kimbrough Army Hospital, Ft. Meade, MD, the Naval Hospital

at the Navy Submarine Base, Groton, CT, Middlesex Hospital, and physicians in Middletown,

CT, and, lastly, the WakeMed physicians and WakeMedCary Hospital. The family thanks them

all with infinite gratitude.

In Bill’s memory, please walk outside and revel in Nature’s beauty. Or cheer on the Yankees

next season!