Donald W. Bates

CAMBRIDGE, N.Y. -- Donald W. Bates, 73, died as the result of an accident at his home in Coila on Monday, April 14, 2003. He was the husband of Elizabeth Rosalind (Brundige) Bates.

Born July 21, 1929 at Mary McClellan Hospital, he was the youngest child of Henry S. and Seraph (Wallace) Bates. He graduated from Cambridge Union School and then learned the family plumbing trade. Don had his own heating and plumbing business with no thoughts of retirement.

He was a life long member of the Coila Church, where he was a trustee and elder, and a charter member of the Cambridge Rescue Squad.

Don was dedicated to Habitat for Humanity and worked on building several houses.

He was definitely the unofficial “Historian of Coila.” Unfortunately, much of his knowledge was never recorded.

Besides his beloved wife of 46 years, he is survived by four children, Catherine May Erhardt and her husband Michael, Seraph Isabella (Beth) Williams, all of Cambridge, Donald W. Bates Jr. and his wife Janet of Madison, Mississippi, and Rebecca Jane Bates and her husband Robert Foster of Berea, Kentucky; two brothers and their wives, Henry S. and Ruth Bates, and John W. Bates and Jane Nichols Bates, all of Cambridge; a sister, Seraph May Elliot of Chittenango; six grandchildren, and many nieces, nephews and cousins.

Friends and relatives are invited to call on Thursday, April 17, 2003 from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. at the Ackley & Ross Funeral Home, 73 West Main St., Cambridge.

The funeral service will be on Friday, April 18 at 11 a.m. at the Coila Church, State Route 372, Coila.

The family request memorial donations be made to either the Coila Church or the Cambridge Valley Rescue Squad, P.O. Box 52, Cambridge, NY 12816.