Dr. Norman Rates

RATES, Dr. Norman Memorial service for Dr. Norman Rates will be held on Saturday, April 18, 2015 at 12 noon at Sisters Chapel on the campus of Spelman College, Rev. Dwight Andrews, officiating. The family will receive friends at 11 a.m. at the chapel on the morning of the service. Survivors are his wife, Laura Etta Lynem; daughters, Sondra Maria and Shari Lynn; grandson, Jordon Maurice Rates (Marcella); great granddaughters, Jayla Shanell Rates and Ricci Riddle; nieces, nephews, cousins and a host of other relatives and friends. The Reverend Doctor Norman M. Rates worked at Spelman College for 48 years as College Minister, Professor of Religion, Chair of the Department of Religion and Philosophy and Dean Emeritus of the Sisters Chapel. He was a lifetime member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc.; a Phi Beta Delta International Scholar and a member of the American Academy of Religion. Reverend Rates served as Interim Minister of the First Congregational Church UCC, where he was a member. He was on the Board of Trustees of the Carrie Steele Pitts Home for orphaned, abused and abandoned children. He also served as PTA President at Oglethorpe Elementary and Booker T. Washington High Schools. Reverend Rates wrote numerous articles, introduced new courses and is the author of the highly acclaimed book: "May Thy Dear Walls Remain" - Memoirs of a College Minister of the Sisters Chapel at Spelman College. Carl M. Williams Funeral Dirs., Inc., 492 Larkin St., SW, 404-522-8454, www.carlmwilliams.com