Bette Saunders Bates

SERVICES: Memorial services for Thomas N. and Bette S. Bates will be at 2:00 PM Saturday, September 15, 2007, at Carmichael-Whatley Colonial Chapel, with Ward Plato, officiating. Cremation arrangements were under the direction of Memory Gardens in Amarillo, and memorial services are under the direction of Carmichael-Whatley Funeral Directors.BIOGRAPHY: Mrs. Bates was born October 8, 1925 in Pampa. She was the third child of Horace E. and Florence B. Saunders, and granddaughter of George Henry Saunders, the first Gray County judge and pioneer family of Gray County. She attended Sam Houston elementary, the old Pampa Junior High, and some high school until her family moved to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma where she attended school there. After the family moved back to Pampa, she attended Whitworth School for Girls in Brookhaven, Mississippi where she graduated on June 6, 1944. She also attended and graduated from the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma, on June 2, 1947. Bette married Thomas Newton Bates on June 28, 1947 at her parent's home in Pampa. She moved to Tucson, Arizona where she lived from 1959 until 1974 where she received her PhD from the University of Arizona and worked with troubled children for several years. She returned to Pampa in 1974 to take care of her parents. Mrs. Bates put on vintage style shows for Pampa's birthdays at the old Coronado Inn Starlight Room, M. K. Brown Auditorium and the Knights of Columbus. She was a member of the West Side Church of Christ, the El Progresso Study Club, The Pampa Fine Arts Association, Pampa Community Concert and the Pampa Army Airfield Association. She enjoyed painting and working in the yard.She is survived by her son, Jon T. Bates of Pampa; her daughter, Cathy Hicks and husband Donald B. of Marana, Arizona; one grandchild, Jessica Goree and husband Lee of Peoria, Arizona; three great-grandsons, Damian Goree and Tomas Conner Goree, both of Peoria, Arizona, and Donnen Colter Hicks, Jr., of Marana, Arizona; cousins, Donna Jo Acker and husband Wayland, David Crossman and wife Ann, and Gabe Crossman and wife Jimma, all of Pampa, and Laverne Saunders of Lubbock; one nephew, Randal Allison and wife Deb of Abilene; one niece, Rebecca Allison of Abilene; and special friends, Ray DeWitt, Hellen McLaughlin, Rosemary Schiffman, Glynnda Leatherman and Paula King.She was preceded in death by her sisters, Jessie in 1924 and Arlene in 1966; her father, H. E. Saunders in 1979; her mother, Florence B. Saunders in 1982; and her loving husband of 50 years, Thomas N. Bates in 2002; and cousins, Lois Reed, Dutchie Burns, George Saunders and Louella Saunders.In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Arthritis Foundation, Texas Chapter, 4300 MacArthur, Suite 245, Dallas, Texas 75209; Odyssey Healthcare, 6900 I-40 West, Suite 150, Amarillo, Texas 79106; or your favorite charity.