DAVID LEE WAITE (1942-2007)

Friday, Jan. 19, 2007 | 6:55 a.m.

During 20 years at the Las Vegas Sun, photographer David Lee Waite earned enduring respect for his courage in getting photos.

A bucking bronco stomped the bulky, bearded Waite at the 1977 Elks Helldorado Rodeo. But Waite's photograph of that horse breaking out of a chute ran on the sports front page the next day.

Two years earlier, several burly security guards tossed Waite out of a Las Vegas ring after a heavyweight boxing fight between Muhammad Ali and Ron Lyle, sending Waite to a hospital.

Waite, named 1979 Photographer of the Year by the World Boxing Council, died Saturday at Valley Hospital from heart failure. He was 64. Waite had undergone heart bypass surgery in late December, his family said.

There were no services for the Las Vegas resident of 42 years.

"Dad loved the excitement of the business and meeting people, but he never sought glory for his work," son Scott Waite of Las Vegas said.

After leaving the Sun in 1988, Waite operated a studio at Oakey and Decatur boulevards. He was a freelance photographer for the Associated Press and The Ring magazine and for several years worked for Binion's Horseshoe as the official photographer of the World Series of Poker.

Born May 20, 1942, in Grand Rapids, Mich., Waite was a self-taught photographer. He came to Las Vegas in 1965 and worked in advertising before joining the Sun in 1968. He was promoted to assistant chief photographer in 1975 and photo editor in 1979.

Among Waite's favorite photos was one he took of late President Gerald Ford that Ford autographed for him, Scott Waite said.

Waite also is survived by another son, Neil Waite, and two grandchildren, Jonathan and Addison, all of Las Vegas.