BATES, Orland Jack “O.J.” 1912 - 2006

BATES, JACOBS, DICKASON, FORD, SMITH, KESSEL, COOK

Posted By: Jane Adams (email)
Date: 11/24/2006 at 16:10:11

"The Fairfield Ledger"
Monday, September 11, 2006
Page 11

Orland Jack “O.J.” BATES, 93, died Saturday, Sept. 9, 2006, at Parkview Care Center in Fairfield.

A funeral will be at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at Raymond Funeral Home in Fairfield. Burial will be at Evergreen Cemetery.

Family visitation will be from 6-8 p.m. tonight at the funeral home.

Memorials will be designated for tree plantings at the Walton Club and Country Club or the Jefferson County Civic Center and can be sent in care of 412 Heatherwood Circle, Fairfield 52556.

Mr. BATES was born Nov. 3, 1912, in Washington, Iowa, the son of Harley and Lila JACOBS BATES. He married Marie C. DICKASON FORD in 1942 in Lancaster, Mo.

Mr. BATES lived northwest of Fairfield and attended Hard Scrabble School, then graduated from Fairfield High School. He studied dairy industry at Iowa State College, and in 1937, he tried out for the St. Louis Cardinals. For nine months, he worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps in Keosauqua and in Burlington, before heading to California in 1941. In southern California, he worked for Lockheed Air Craft and then owned a chicken ranch with his wife. During the 21 years he spent in California, he studied design engineering at University of California Los Angeles and Southern California and went on to work for Howard Hughes Aircraft, where he was present to see Hughes’ famous Spruce Goose, In the space program, he was involved in the designs that first put man in space and on future moon landings. His further work was with rocket engines and missiles.

In 1961, he and his wife moved back to Fairfield to run the Bates Motel, a family business. In 1979 the motel and their home burned, and they later owned Bates’ Book Nook in Ottumwa while living in Batavia. In 2001, he moved to Calu Apartments.

Mr. BATES was a member of the Walton Club and Fairfield Golf and Country Club. He sponsored and bowled on the Bates Motel team. He was a member of the Eagles Club and was a 50-year-member of the Elks Cub.

Survivors include three daughters, Olivia SMITH and husband Gene of Bunceton, Mo., and Suzan KESSEL and husband Patrick of Fairfield; one stepdaughter, Kathryn COOK of Hartford City, Ind.; 12 grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren; and one brother, Max BATES in South Bend, Ind.

He was preceded in death by his parents, wife and one great-grandson.

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This data transcribed for genealogical purposes; I am not related to the subject.

Admin note: Buried in Lot 5th.043 with wife Marie, who died in 2003.