M. Helen Bates 1907 - 1997

BATES, MEHAFFEY, TODD, BRIGHT

Posted By: debbie (email)
Date: 12/31/2006 at 22:17:21

The Burlington Hawkeye, August 12, 1997

M. Helen Bates

M. Helen Bates, 89, formerly of the Trenton community, died at 615 a.m. Friday, Aug. 8, 1997, at Parkview Home of Wayland.

Born Sept. 27, 1907, near Morning Sun, she was the daughter of Thomas and Martha Mehaffey Todd. On Aug. 14, 1930, at Morning Sun, she married Bernard K. Bates.

She was a graduate of Morning Sun High School and Iowa State Teachers College in Cedar Falls. She had taught school in Mediapolis and Trenton communities before her marriage.

She and her husband farmed near Trenton before moving to Wayland in 1987.

Mrs. Bates was a 4-H leader for many years, was a member of the Finley Chapel of the United Methodist Church and was named Iowa Homemaker of the Year in 1955.

Survivors include her husband; one daughter, Martha Ann Bright of Moravia; seven grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by four brothers, three sisters, one son, one grandson and her parents.

The funeral for Mrs. Bates will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Finley Chapel of the United Methodist Church, with Carl Klein and the Rev. Don Coffin officiating. A private burial will be held at Finley Cemetery.

The family will recieve friends for a luncheon following the service at the church. There will be no visitation.

Memorials have been established for the Parkview Home of Wayland and the Finley Cemetery Association.

Beatty Funeral Home in Wayland is in charge of arrangements.