Ralph Gordon Waits

Graveside services for Mr. Ralph Gordon Waits, 78, of Kilgore will be held on Monday, November 27, 2023, at two o’clock in the afternoon at Lakeview Memorial Gardens with Reverend David Hampton officiating. The family will receive friends at Rader Funeral Home in Kilgore from six until eight o’clock in the evening on Sunday, November 26, 2023. Mr. Waits completed his earthly journey on Sunday, November 19, 2023, in Longview, Texas.

Ralph was born on January 19, 1945, in Kilgore, Texas to Maude Derendy Maxwell and Judge Hastin Waits. He graduated from Kilgore High School before being drafted into the United States Armed Forces. Mr. Waits bravely served his country for two years before being honorably discharged; after fighting in the Vietnam War. He continued his education after the military at Kilgore College, where he studied Industrial Mechanics. Ralph married the love of his life Diane in nineteen-seventy. They shared fifty-two joyful years of marriage and two sons together. Mr. Waits was extremely hard-working. He worked for Vertex for twenty-four years as a machinist before his retirement. Ralph was a dedicated husband, father, brother, grandfather, and friend to many. He will be greatly missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing him.

Left to cherish Mr. Waits’s memory are sons, Jason Waits of Kilgore and girlfriend Rona Lacey of Palestine, and Kevin Waits and wife Cydney of Lindale; grandchildren, Judson, and Ellie; two sisters and a brother; along with numerous nieces, nephews, and other loving family members.

Ralph was reunited with his wife Diane Waits, his parents and eight siblings.