Rebecca Ellen Waterman (Griffin)

Our beloved Rebecca Ellen Waterman (Griffin), age 47, passed unexpectedly in the early morning of July 31, 2023. She was a deeply loyal and devoted wife, loving mother, sister, daughter, and cherished friend. Many recall her as being inclusive to others, serving her community in many ways, and being a close sister to many. Rebecca was born on December 24, 1975, in Lafayette, Indiana to Mary (deceased) and Walter R. Griffin. She is the oldest of three siblings, Walter S. Griffin, Andrew Griffin, and Elizabeth Grotnes.

You could find her actively involved at her hometown Catholic church St. Marys where she fought for the right to life, attending world youth day, as well as going on a service to Haiti. In addition, she enjoyed participating in the marching band at Lafayette Jefferson High School and Purdue University. She transferred from Purdue and graduated from Indiana University with a degree in Occupational Therapy. Her next journey in life brought her to Houston, Texas to serve as an occupational therapist for Texas Children’s Hospital. She soon then met the love of her life, Jonathan Waterman. Blessed by marriage in 2003, they ventured together to San Francisco where she worked for Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford until 2006 where they received a gift of their firstborn, Clare Marie soon followed with a move back to Houston, Texas. Rebecca and Jon have three precious children Clare (17), Luke (14), and Jacob (12).

Rebecca received her master’s in health care administration from Texas Women’s University in 2007. She worked in private OT over the years transitioning to working in the local school districts and most recently received Harris County Department of Education’s Celebration of Excellence Award acknowledging her outstanding contributions to serving students and school district staff.

Rebecca had a lifelong passion for helping others, especially children and people with special needs. She was very involved with helping mothers in need and organizing to donate items. She was a servant leader in her community, always pulling people together, active in Girl Scouts serving as a leader for her daughter’s troop, and very active with the Boy Scouts with her boys. Another common community connection with Rebecca would be countless hours spent supporting the kids with local swim practice and swim meets for the summer swim team, Spring Cypress Stingrays, and club swim teams Fleet then later Hydra. Her most recent adventure was learning about Pole Vaulting to support her son Luke’s interest and became an avid basketball fan of Jacob’s.

Rebecca loved the beauty of the National Parks and enjoyed visiting them with her family.

She is preceded in death by her mother, Mary Griffin, and survived by her husband, Jonathan Waterman, daughter, Clare, sons Luke and Jacob, father, Walter R. Griffin and wife Eileen, brothers Walter S. Griffin and Andrew Griffin, and sister, Elizabeth Grotnes and husband Cal Grotnes, Sister-in-law Stephanie Waterman, mother-in-law, and father-in-law, Mavis and William Waterman.

Nieces and Nephews: Kathryn Guerra, Alexa Griffin, Riley and Cameron Griffin, Eva and Reese Grotnes.

A memorial mass will be held at St. Mary Cathedral in Lafayette on Friday, July 5th, at 11 AM. A celebration of life will follow at the American Legion Post 11 at 12:30 PM. 

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to:

An ongoing scholarship is being set up to honor Rebecca through Cy-Fair Educational Foundation to provide funds needed to help CFISD students. http://www.thecfef.org/donate/ or send to Cy-Fair Educational Foundation, P.O. Box 1698, Cypress TX 77410 – 1698. Please make donations in memory of Rebecca Waterman. Her dream job was to always be a career coach and help young kids with their path in life.

Friends of Scouting www.p2p.onecause.com contributions: Rebecca Waterman

Prince of Peace: www.pushpay.com to help mothers in need for future generations to come.