Patty's Place

Grandfather..........William McKinley Bates.

Grandpa was born the 25th of September 1900 in Riddle, Douglas, Oregon the son of James Reagan and Victoria Parrish Bates.  He grew up in Riddle.  When he reached his late teens he got restless and roamed around.  He ended up in Carbon Co. Utah and ended up working in the coal mines.  He met Ida Lucille Richardson at this time.  He swept her off her feet and they were married  16 Nov 1927 in Price, Carbon, Utah.

When Grandpa was a small child he got polio.  His mother tried really hard to help him get healthy.  His Dad didn't care for his son much and asked Victoria why she was trying so hard to help him.  He was going to die anyway.  How sad grandpa must have felt to hear those words come from his father.  He did get over it but he always had weak ankles because of the polio that he had.

Grandpa was very involved in the Coal Mines.  He never missed a day of work and he became very involved with the union.  When he lived in Latuda he was the President of the Union..

       

I don't remember to much about Grandpa.  I was only 7 years old when he died.  Mom told me that he was a very quiet man and didn't say to much.  Dad didn't talk about him much when I was growing up.  The things I remember about him is that I felt safe around him.  He loved little dogs and he and grandma always had one or two of them.  I guess that carried over for grandma because when she retired she always had a little muffy.  That is what she named her little dogs that she had.  she had to give her last little dog away when she went into the nursing home.

 Grandpa had quite a green thumb.  He grew the best raspberries in the whole world and it was a great pleasure for us kids to raid the patch whenever we visited Spring Glen...He loved to work out in the yard and he always kept a nice, clean, and neat yard.  He and Grandma lived in the basement of the house that Dad had started to build before he went to college. Dad told me that Grandpa was a boxer and that he could take down 3 men at a time and 'whoop" them every time.

I remember one time we visited Grandpa when he was in the old Carbon Hospital.  I can't remember why he was there but I remember standing outside his room window and visiting with him.  We weren't allowed to go into the hospital.  I wish I could remember more about him.  When I go to the other side he is one I would like to visit with first

Aunt Alma Rae told me that Grandpa liked to entertain her.  He liked to dance for her.  He had a little tap routine that he did for her.  It always delighted her.  When Grandma Richardson got all her kids together for a group picture, grandpa refused to go and have his picture taken.  That has always been a disappointment  to Aunt Alma. It would have really been nice if he would have had it taken. 

                                                                                                                    

Grandpa liked to take Dad and Jack fishing and hunting.  He enjoyed that very much.  He also thought that some day he would hit it big time when he struck gold.  He liked to pan in the streams for gold.  I can just see him doing that.  He reminded me of one of those type of miners.  He never did find the gold but he enjoyed his time panning in the streams.

Grandpa and Grandma were foster parents.  I remember them taking the Warren children from Kenilworth into their home.  I especially remember Mary Jo.  She was a little older than I was and she always called Grandma, Mom Bates.  Mary Jo lived with them for a couple of years.  When Mrs. Warren told them that she was well enough to take care of her little girl and asked for her back it broke grandpas heart, he loved her so much.  After Mary Jo quit living with them he suddenly seemed to age and get older.   Grandma and Grandpa were very charitable, and even though they didn't have much money they helped all they could.

Grandpa had a few problems in his life that really affected his wife and children's family life.  He had a problem with alcohol.  He spent many hours in the bars and grandma always had to go and pull him out of them.  When the kids got a little older she sent them to get him.  Dad told me he had quite a temper when he was drunk.  I am so thankful that none of his children had a problem like this.  I wonder if it was their mothers (grandma's) influence?  I'm sure part of it is, but I think that Grandma Richardson played a big part in helping them also.

I feel that grandpa must have been a very sad man that he had this problem.  He died a tragic death. On the 17th of May 1960 he took his own life by carbon monoxide poisoning . Dad never told us about how he died.  It wasn't until I was 13 that I learned about it from Mildred Simms.  I asked Dad about it and he told me that he had.  This disturbed me very much and to this day I still have a problem with it as sometimes I have felt the same way he did.  But I guess I just have the desire to live and stay her to help my children and grandchildren.  I have found out for myself that I love life and there isn't a trial that I can't overcome.  In my heart I feel a great love for this man and I know that he is alright with the Lord.  We just don't know what is going on in people's lives to make them feel that life is useless.

Grandpa is buried  in the Provo City Cemetery in the Utah Valley.  It is a place I like to visit because so many of them are buried there.   Grandpa's Father, James Raegan, was from Sebastian Co.,  Arkansas and his mother, Victoria Parrish. was from Joplin, Missouri.

Dad when he was in the Army
James William Bates

John Gordon Bates
He was a Navy man
He made it his career.

Alma Rae Bates Procarione

Grandpa Bill, Grandma Ida, and me.
Patty Lynne Bates

This is Grandpa's parents
James Raegan Bates and Victoria Parrish

At a Richardson Ruin
Mom and Dad, Rudy and Alma Rae, Jack and Doris