Betty Lou Bates was born to George and Lissetta McKinney on January 31, 1936, in Chillicothe, MO. Mom went to her eternal home on July 13, 2025.
Mom married our father, Robert E. Bates, on June 16, 1955. To this union were born seven children. Our father passed on February 23, 1999.
In her 89 years on Earth, Mom was first a minister’s wife, serving many United Methodist Churches across the state, and second a mother to her children. She made sure we had everything we needed. She was definitely one who went to battle for us. When her last child started school, Mom entered the workforce. She worked in nursing homes, hospitals as a CAN and CMA, a day care, and was a house mom to people with disabilities.
Mom was a very strong, independent woman. If you ask her sons-in-law, that trait has passed down to her daughters, and just maybe a tinge of her bullheadedness. The daughters would all agree that the sons are not exempt from these gifts in any way. She didn’t let many obstacles get in her way. Even with her declining health issues, she very rarely complained.
Mom is survived by all of her children: Mike (Jeanette), Hutchinson, KS, Marcia Davis (Donald), Sedalia, MO, Brenda Jacobs (JW), Winfield, KS, Debra Robinson (Frank), Winfield, KS, Rob (Kimberly), Pevely, MO, Sharla Barnes (Kevin), Nixa, MO, Tim (Michelle), Fort Worth, TX. Also surviving are her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren, many nieces and nephews, extended family members, and friends.
Mom was preceded in death by her husband, Robert, her parents, and siblings: Richard, Donald, Sam, William, James, Doris, Lula, and Thelma.
Visitation with the family will be held on Friday, July 18, from 5-7 pm at Carlson Funeral Home. Services will be held at Carlson Funeral Home on Saturday, July 19, at 10 am. Burial will be at Ridgeway Cemetery on 857 NW 90th Street, El Dorado, Kansas.
Memorials can be made to Harry Hynes Hospice, Wichita, Kansas, in honor of Betty Bates. Please sign her online guest book and leave a memory at www.carlsonkirbymorris.com .