June 25, 1927 - Feb. 5, 2010
D.L. “Dewey” Bates Sr., 82, Peru, passed away Friday, Feb. 5, 2010, at Marion General Hospital.
He was born June 25, 1927, in Knox County, Tenn., to Dewey and Mary Etta (Sands) Bates. On Feb. 1, 1947, he married Joanne (Woolum) Bates, and she preceded him in death on Feb. 26, 1996.
On April 15, 2000, he married Reva Bates, and she survives.
Mr. Bates retired from Continental Steel, Kokomo, in 1985. He loved to play music and pitch horseshoes. He had many nieces and nephews, whom he loved dearly. He attended New Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Kokomo.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by one daughter, Nancy Finch (Randy); two sons, Bill Bates and Dewey Bates; stepchildren, Barbara White (Bob), Sharon Watson (David) and Donnie Craig (Sharon); eight grandkids; seven great-grandkids; eight step-grandkids; a brother, Frank Bates (Betty), Kokomo; and a sister-in-law, Mary Lou Bates, Searcy, Ark.
He was preceded in death by his first wife, parents, three brothers, one son and one grandson.
The funeral service is 11 a.m. today at Sunset Memory Garden Funeral Home, Kokomo, with Pastor Tim Apt officiating.
Burial will follow in Sunset Memory Garden Cemetery. Visiting hours were 4 to 8 p.m. Monday at the funeral home.
Online condolences to the family can be made at www.mem.com.
