Otis ‘Byron’ Bates

Otis “Byron” Bates, 84, of Stigler, peacefully, in an instant, passed away Wednesday, March 20, 2019, at home in the arms of his son.
He was born June 16, 1934, in Keota to Clarence Otis and Opal Emily (Cole) Bates. Byron graduated from Stigler High School and attended college at Oklahoma A&M briefly before enlisting in the Navy in 1952 during the Korean War. He served in El Centro, Calif. as an aircraft mechanic and in Iceland as a crewmember of an anti-submarine P2V-7 aircraft patrolling the Atlantic. He received an honorable discharge in 1956.
After his enlistment, he worked in the insurance business as an independent catastrophic loss adjuster while also being fully vested in farming, ranching and raising all types of livestock. In 1961, Byron married Gayle Moore of Tulsa and adopted her two sons, Doug and Don, and they had two sons, Randy and Gary. For most of the next 14 years, they raised their family in Piedmont.
In 1981, as a single father, he met and married the love of his life, Kaaren Harmon of Oklahoma City. Byron and Kaaren retired in 1997 and moved from Piedmont back to his hometown, Stigler, to live out the remaining years of his life as a cattle rancher, where his wife, Kaaren, preceded him in death in 2001.
Byron is survived by his two sons, Randy Bates of Yukon and Gary Bates of Stigler; his two adopted sons, Doug Bates of San Diego, Calif. and Don Bates of Guthrie; his grandchildren, Blake and Anessa Bates and Corey Bates of Oklahoma City and Elana Bates and Sarah Cordial Bates of San Diego, Calif.; six great-grandchildren, Jaxon, Willow, Grayson, Ezra, Zoe and Evalina; his sister, Lois Weir of Anchorage, Alaska and two sisters-in-law, Jenny Bates of Owasso and Pat Bates of Claremore.
Byron was preceded in death by his parents, Clarence Otis and Opal Bates; his wife, Kaaren Bates; his sister, Virginia (Bates) Gulley and his two brothers, Phillip Bates and Bruce Bates.
A memorial service will be held to honor and celebrate the life of Byron at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 30, 2019, at The Well, 405 E. Main Street, Stigler.
In lieu of flowers, you may honor Byron by donating towards his favorite Mission Project, drilling water wells and building churches in India. Make checks payable to The Well at P.O. Box 180 Stigler, OK 74462 with “Byron Bates Mission Project” on the memo line.