Nancy Gail Bates Yates

1926 - 2020

Nancy Gail Bates Yates 1926 - 2020 Nancy Gail Bates Yates died peacefully in Bellevue, WA on February 9, 2020 with family by her side. Nancy had recently relocated to Washington after 65 years in the San Francisco Bay Area. Nancy was born on April 4, 1926 to Warren Bates and Elsa (Piehler) Bates of New York, NY and two-year old sister Claire (Bates) Davidson. The family moved temporarily from New York to New Mexico in 1929 when her father was misdiagnosed with tuberculosis. Warren soon died from leukemia. Tragedy struck again when Elsa was herself diagnosed with TB. Nancy and her sister were placed in a Mount Pleasant, NY orphanage/boarding school while Elsa was in treatment, and for a short while after she died from TB. Nancy was five. Early tragedy, resilience, and optimism were the defining characteristics of Nancy's life. She and her sister Claire (1924-2010) went on to spend school terms with her aunt, uncle and cousins in Yonkers, NY and summers with another uncle, aunt and cousin in Wollaston, MA. Nancy attended Wheaton College in Norton, MA during the later years of WWII. Upon graduation in 1947, she and a college friend drove cross country to San Francisco, where Nancy worked for the Boy Scouts of America. After applying to the US State Department, she was assigned to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (then Malaya) as the first woman stationed in Asia for the USDS. She served as administrative assistant to the counsel general. It was there she met the love of her life, John Douglas Yates (1928-2014) from Birmingham, England and made several lifelong friends. John and Nancy married in 1953 in Codsall (near Birmingham), England and ultimately settled in San Rafael where they raised their two children. Nancy was a steadfast friend, parent, grandparent, and companion to her husband, John. She enjoyed working for the Marin County Office of Education from the 1970's until her retirement in 1991. In retirement, Nancy and John traveled extensively in the US and Europe often with dear friends. Their travels included frequent visits to family in England, to their grandchildren in Southern California and Washington State and visits to Nancy's sister Claire and cousins on the East Coast. Nancy enjoyed reading novels, magazines and the news, daily walks with her succession of beloved dogs, PBS dramas, and lunch with her friends. Nancy fervently believed in equal rights for all and lived her life by the Golden Rule. Her kind, bright smile and practical, grounded nature both cheered and centered those around her. A most cherished mother and adored grandmother, she is survived by her son, Richard (and Lisa) Yates of San Clemente, CA; her daughter Kathryn (and Gary) Stevenson of Sammamish, WA; and four grandchildren, Christopher (and Svetlana), Henry, Katie, and Ben. Friends are invited to share memories and sign the family's online guest book: https://www.flintofts.com/obituary/Nancy-G.-Yates/Bellevue-Washington/1868580.