David Lee Yates

DAVID LEE YATES David Lee Yates, 81, of Nipomo, CA passed away March 27, 2025. He was born on March 11, 1944, in Ottawa, KS. He was raised on a 500-acre dairy farm and attended Ottawa High School. After receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture in 1967 from Kansas State University, he earned a teaching credential at Paola, KS where he taught until 1973. He received his Master of Science degree from Kansas State University in 1972. He married Karen Sue Snyder, also of Ottawa. He was a member of the Army National Guard from 1967-1973. In 1973, he and his wife moved to Fresno where he taught agricultural mechanics at Madera High School. In 1988, David became the Madera High School ag department chairman and was also named Teacher of the Year. The superintendent said that the work that had been done under Yates was "just extraordinary." In 2001, David received the State Teacher of Excellence Award out of 900 ag teachers in California. After retiring from Madera High School in 2003, he taught welding at Fresno State for 5 years before moving to Nipomo, CA. In his spare time, he enjoyed taking his daughter to compete at Arabian horse shows. In his single years, he enjoyed drag racing his Chevy 2, and Bossanova 2. David was preceded in death by his father, Wilbur, and mother Letha, and is survived by his wife, Karen, Nipomo, CA, daughter Jaima, and grandchildren Anya 7, and Kian 10, Calabasas, CA, his brother, Frank Yates, Ottawa KS, and his sisters, Sally Kramer, Ottawa KS, and Sandra Brooks, Overland Park, KS.