James Bates

Memorial services for Mr. James ‘Robert’ Bates, 75, of Grand Saline, are scheduled for 11 a.m., Thursday, June 27, 2019, at Bartley Funeral Home.
Mr. Bates passed away June 23, 2019 in Grand Saline. He was born July 29, 1943, in Van Zandt County to Johnnie & Ollie Pearl Lee Bates. Robert served in the US Army and spent 2 years in Germany during the Vietnam War. He spent most of his life in Grand Saline where he graduated GSHS Class of 1961 and was a member of Masonic Lodge #1269. Mr. Bates was a Retired Captain with the Dallas Fire Department with 37 years of service. Robert was preceded in death by his parents; grandparents, James Robert “Jim Buck” and Sarah Lee and James & Martha Bates; mother of his children, Beverly Ann Jones; brother, Royce Lee Bates; and an infant son, Phillip Russell Bates.
Survivors include his wife of 28 years, Freda Thompson Bates of Grand Saline; son, Brian Gregory Whatley and wife Jeanna of Bullard; daughter, Mary Christa Bates Sloan and husband Jared of Grand Saline; three sisters, Delois Currey of Grand Saline, Charlene Morrison and husband Ron of Grand Saline and Beth Gordon of Canton; four grandchildren, Raiven Whatley, Jarrett Whatley, Slayde Hutcherson and Zayden Sloan; and numerous other relatives and friends.
Memorials may be made to the Shriners Hospital for Children, www.shrinershospitalsforchildren.org.