Carol Lynn Bates

Carol Lynn Bates, age 81, of Spruce Pine, NC passed away on December 18th, 2025.
Born on March 24th, 1944 in East Gary Indiana to William Campbell and Olive Drake Campbell. In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by sisters; Patricia Schlitz and Donna Schavey and her brothers; Ronnie and Bill Campbell.
Carol worked at Tri-State University in Angola Ind. She then moved to WNC to be near her family. Carol was known for having one of the kindest hearts of anyone and will be sorely missed. She loved spending time with her family and church friends. She was a lover of birds; in particular hummingbirds. She loved to cook and bake for her family and holidays will never be the same without those loving treats! She was active in her Sunday School class and was always the first one out of the house door on Sundays. She took great pleasure in gift giving and making sure they knew how loved they were, by both her but especially God. In her later years she enjoyed researching her family genealogy and telling stories of the latest "connection" Ancestry had emailed her about! She had a great appreciation for classical music and art. You could often hear this as you approached her house! Known by everyone as "GrandMa".
Carol is survived by her children; Michael Brown, Patricia Gibbs and spouse Shepherd, Harvey Bates and spouse, Misty, her grandchildren; Spenser Brown, Daniel Brown, Carrie (Bates) Waldroup and spouse Luke, Justin Bates, Kurtis Brown and spouse Rikka, Kraig Brown, her great grandchildren; Ryan Brown, Elliana Brown, Aiden Brown, Parker Brown, Dutton Michael Waldroup.
Visitation will be Sunday December 21st, 2025 at 3:00 PM. Funeral to follow at 4:00 PM at Bethel Missionary Baptist Church with Rev. Darrin Waldroup and Rev. Luke Waldroup officiating. Interment will be in the Bethel Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery. Testimony of Life by grandson, Justin Bates and granddaughter, Carrie Bates.
Serving as Pallbearers will be; Harvey Bates, Justin Bates, Dale Buchanan, Doug Gragg, Luke Waldroup, Keyven Buchanan, Jon Ingle, Daniel Ingle. Serving as Honorary Pallbearers will be; Michael Brown, Shepherd Gibbs, Jerry Sparks.
Words of comfort may be e-mailed to the family by going to our website; www.webbfh.com, selecting Carol Bates' name and then you may sign her guestbook. Webb Funeral Home has been entrusted with the arrangements for Mrs. Bates and is honored to be serving the Bates family. Mrs. Bates' obituary has also been posted on Facebook for viewing.