Brown College senior Samuel Waters passes

By Abigail Panitz     2/2/16 9:09pm

The Rice community lost an uplifting mentor and extraordinary voice last Wednesday. Samuel Waters, a Brown College senior and voice performance major at the Shepherd School of Music, passed away Jan. 27 at home in Falls Church, Virginia after a five-year battle with cancer. He was 22 years old. Waters is survived by his parents, James and Claire, and younger brother, Tyler.

In spring 2011, Waters was admitted to study at Rice under Stephen King, the Lynette S. Autrey Chair of Voice at the Shepherd School. Soon after, he was diagnosed with cancer and postponed his undergraduate studies for one year to undergo treatment.

Waters maintained an active presence both on Facebook and his blog, titled Samwisewaters, which he started early last month. His final post, “Heroes of Weakness,” discussed facing death.

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“I simultaneously find comfort in the thought that at the end of this five-year process I opted to avail myself of every medical option and that I never chose to give in to circumstance; with this knowledge in hand, I can take my next step knowing that I fought the good fight.”

Brown masters Krista Comer and Jose Aranda got to know Waters and his family on a personal level.

“Sam was very talented, and his voice was heard by many,” Comer said.

Waters received many accolades while studying at Shepherd, including the Frances C. Atkinson Memorial Scholarship in Voice this school year.

Tom Jaber, director of choral ensembles and vocal coach at Shepherd, played the accompaniment for Waters during his audition to the school.

“He was so poised and had a lovely and mature quality for a 17-year-old young man,” Jaber said. “Of course everybody wanted to teach him.”

Waters expressed a zeal for life and helping friends, according to Brown senior Amritha Kanakamedala.

“He was genuinely concerned for his friends’ well-being and would do whatever he could to brighten up our day,” she wrote.

Larisa LaMere, a Brown senior, said she too felt the spontaneous joy he produced.

“I think especially toward the end he didn’t take himself too seriously, and he wasn’t a victim at all,” LaMere said.

Sam Gavenman, a Wiess College junior, was a friend of Waters’. He wrote him a goodbye letter through Facebook describing how he met Waters when Gavenman auditioned at Rice.

“I was so hung up on every word you said, and just how sincerely you spoke,” Gavenman wrote. “I realized that you had convinced me: This was the school for me. Your guidance through this difficult, but undeniably beautiful field we call music has helped me more than you may ever know.”

Other friends expressed their gratitude at the opportunity to have known Waters.

“He would always tell me that I was special, that my voice was special,” Gloria Palermo, a Martel College senior and voice performance major, said. “He knew what I needed when I didn’t know; he always gave me guidance when I really needed it.”

“Samuel understood how to love more then anyone I know,” Cory Gross, a McMurtry College senior and voice performance major, wrote. “Even when he was sick and weak, he still cared about people more than himself.”

LaMere said Waters’ presence was almost divine.

“Regardless of how much struggle there was it was like Samuel attracted these miracles to him,” LaMere said. “Perseverance and love and light that just shined out uncontrollably even when he was sitting in a wheelchair.”

Students from Shepherd are organizing a memorial service and concert for Waters, scheduled for this spring. Donations can be made to the Samuel J. Waters Memorial Fund for the Arts.

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