District Attorney has a full life away from the job

He's Carson City's district attorney, you can read about the ups and downs of his job in the Nevada Appeal fairly regularly so we'll skip all that and today we'll visit with husband and father Noel Waters and talk with him and his wife Bonnie about stuff not associated with his job.

We'll start with Bonnie, who is 47 and was born in Baghdad, Iraq.

"I lived in Baghdad for five years and in Sri Lanka for five years too," said Bonnie as we began our visit in their two-story, three-bedroom west-side home. "I also lived in Panama City for two years, spent one year in Davis, Calif., and then in Bolivia for four years. My dad (Jack) was a foreign service officer in the State Department for 30 years. He's retired now and lives in Morrow Bay, Calif. Mom (Lois) was an art teacher. She lives in Davis."

Bonnie is the fourth of six children. She has four sisters and one brother.

"All my sisters live out of state," she continued. "My brother Bob lives in Carson City and works for the Douglas County District Attorney's office as the chief deputy civil DA. He's married to Kay Ellen and they have two children."

Bonnie and Noel have been married 17 years. They met because of her brother.

"We met through Bob when we both went to law school in Sacramento and were roommates," said Noel. "Bonnie and I dated for three years and got married right here in Carson City at the Justice Court."

Noel is 51 and was born in Portland, Ore.

"My dad Leon - my name spelled backwards - was a route salesman for a restaurant supply company," said Noel. "He died in 1972 from cancer. He was only 55 years old. My mom (Sammye) is 78 and lives here in Carson City. I have one sister, Mary, who lives in Ukiah (Calif.) with her husband, Jim, and their three kids."

Speaking of "kids" the Waterses have two at home and two that aren't.

"I have one daughter, Kristin, from a previous marriage," said Noel. "She's 30 and lives in Reno with her husband, Brian, and their three children. Ian is 24 and lives in San Jose. I adopted Ian when I married Bonnie."

Their two children live at home. Scott is 15 and goes to Carson High School and Sarah is 13 and attends Carson Middle School.

The family came to Carson City in 1981 but Noel had lived here before college and law school took him away for awhile and he is a graduate of Carson High School. He first went to work as a law clerk for Judge Griffin before going to work as a deputy DA.

"I was appointed district attorney in 1985 to replace Bill Maddox," said Noel. "I was elected district attorney in 1986. I've been re-elected three times and my current term ends in 2002."

You gonna run again?

"I enjoy the job because every day is different and it's an interesting job, but that decision is at least a year away," he replied. "The job offers a variety of responsibilities and that keeps me interested. There's so much going on I never get bored with the job, and I like my job. I keep busy and look forward to going to work every day.

"I have 25 employees and this isn't an 8-5 type of job, which I like. I really love it and wouldn't change a thing about the job. I still go into court and prosecute cases and I also defend the city in civil litigation."

Part of the job includes being available to residents.

"I'm accessible and I'm in the phone book," added Noel. "I'm here to help and serve the people of Carson City. Being accessible is part of the job and that's OK with me. Our office treats people fairly .... We work hard at doing it."

By the way, Bonnie works as a "free-lance web designer" for local businesses.

FUN & SPORTS - Bet you don't know what state record Noel once held in sports. Take a guess and we'll tell you later.

For fun, Noel and Bonnie like to go outdoor camping and Noel likes to fish and play golf.

"I'm a hacker at golf," he laughed. "I shoot 100-105 and am not very consistent."

Bonnie says her fun is her garden at home.

"I like to garden," she said with a smile. "I grow roses mostly and I do have a little vegetable garden. That's my fun. Our whole family likes to snow ski. Noel water skis too but I don't. I inner-tube ski. We just live a normal life away from our jobs. With two teenagers at home our life is pretty busy. We're very happy in Carson City and our lives are full and fun."

I like boxing and asked Noel if he follows the sport or any other sports.

"I don't follow boxing much," he answered. "My dad was a boxer when he was in the Marine Corps. He was a heavyweight and was pretty good. He also played football for the Marines. He served 20 years in the U.S. military."

Noel likes the NFL and baseball and basketball too.

"I'm an NFL follower and a '49ers fan," he said. "I played some softball - I was a first baseman - and volleyball for some local teams, but I've stopped all that now. I may resume softball now that I'm a senior."

And that record Noel once held. I'll let him tell you about it.

"At Carson High School I high-jumped," he said cheerfully. "I held the state record of 6-feet-4 and a quarter inches for quite a few years."

That's all for now as it was time for me to get going, but I really enjoyed my visit with Noel and Bonnie and hope you did too ....

ALAN ROGERS is a Nevada Appeal columnist. His message phone is 887-2430, ext. 402.