David M. Yates

BRISTOL -- David M. Yates, 70, of The Villages, Fla., and formerly of Bristol, died Saturday, Sept. 23, 2006, after a courageous battle with cancer.

A Maine native, David was born Oct. 8, 1935, in Round Pond, son of Edmund M. and Alice E. Yates. He attended Portland schools and excelled in track and basketball while at Portland High. David received the prestigious Preti Award and Brown medal; recognition for high honor in athletics and academics. He graduated from Gorham State Teachers College and was a member of Kappa Delta Phi fraternity.

He began his 32-year teaching career at Stonington High School in Connecticut. He later taught high school in Skowhegan, Bristol and Union. The majority of his teaching career was spent at Medomak Valley in Waldoboro, where he taught for 21 years. He was head of the Industrial Arts department at Medomak, teaching graphics, printing, photography and drafting. Mr. Yates was Medomak's softball coach for several years where his varsity girls team won numerous regional championship titles. He also served as president of the Medomak Valley Teachers Association.

As director of Project COVE (Coastal Opportunities in Vocational Education) in the mid-1970s, Mr. Yates was instrumental with the fundraising efforts for the expansion of Medomak Valley's Resource Conservation and Development programs. These programs included forestry, marine biology, boat building and horticulture conservation. It involved the construction of a greenhouse and other school buildings by students, which allowed such classes to be offered as part of the vocational education curriculum. He was also actively involved in Awake, a building trades program at Medomak.

He was proud of the fact that Medomak Valley was the only high school in Maine at that time where all the construction from below ground to the finished product was done by students. This hands on work study experience enabled students, graduating from these various programs, to be prepared for the world of work after graduation.

His retirement from teaching in 1989, combined with his love for antiques, prompted him to start his own antiques business that following summer. It was aptly called "Silver Fox" Antiques in Bristol. He was fondly known as a packrat with his kids. He was an avid hunter and enjoyed gardening, tending to his many vegetable gardens.

Surviving are his wife, Annie, of The Villages; a son, Philip Yates and his wife, Lisa, of South Berwick; daughters, Joanna Yates and her companion, Marie McCarthy, of North Yarmouth, and Kristen Doughty, Gloucester, R.I.; former wife, friend and mother of his children, Faith L. Ball of Nobleboro; granddaughters, Amanda, Madeline, Isabella, Stephanie, Laura and Rebecca; stepsons, Roy Lenardson and his wife, Joanne Leary, of Scarborough, Jason Lenardson and his wife, Jennifer, of South Portland, Peter Lenardson and his wife, Joni, of Las Vegas, and Eric Lenardson and his wife, Jodi, of Scarborough; stepdaughter, Rachel Ernst and her husband, Skip, of Sidney; and stepgrandchildren, Christine, Anders, Adam, William, Nicolle, Zakk, Josh, Cassandra and Evan.

A funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 29, at Halls Funeral Home, 949 Main St., Waldoboro. Burial will follow at Maple Grove Cemetery, Round Pond. A celebration of his life -- a boat ride on Muscongus Bay in New Harbor -- will be held at a later date. Arrangements are entrusted to Hall Funeral Home and Cremation Service, Waldoboro.