Michael Stewart Bates

Michael Stewart Bates was a beloved husband, father, brother, uncle, grandfather, and dear friend to many. He passed away peacefully at home and went to be with God at the age of 79 on February 27, 2026 due to complications from Parkinson’s Disease.

Mike was born in Washington, DC on September 11, 1946 to Elizabeth Stewart Bates and Lawrence Bates Jr. As a child, Mike’s family moved often due to his father’s Naval career. He lived in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Cheltenham, MD; Playa Grande, Venezuela; Albuquerque, NM; Norfolk, VA; Las Vegas, NV; Warwick, RI; and Great Lakes, IL before returning to Norfolk, VA again. Mike graduated from Granby High School in Norfolk, VA in 1964, and went on to study philosophy at Davidson College, graduating in 1968. He then became a commissioned officer in the US Navy and served on the USS MULLINNIX in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, where he received several awards for distinguished service. He left the Navy in 1971 to attend law school at the University of Virginia, where he served as executive editor of the Virginia Journal of International Law. After earning his J.D, he joined the U.S. Department of Transportation as a government attorney, where he served our country with rigor and dedication in increasingly senior roles until he retired in 2014.

Mike married Kathy Wicher Bates in 1977 and they bought a home in Arlington, VA, where they raised their two children together. Mike was a faithful volunteer at St. Ann Catholic Church for over three decades, serving as an usher, organizing the after-Mass coffee and donut social gatherings, spearheading the first parish pictorial directory, and coordinating the Eucharistic ministers. Mike was also an eager amateur photographer who carefully chronicled many family holidays and trips with extended family.

Mike was kind, humble, generous, patient and detail-oriented, with a marvelous gentle sense of humor and a deep Christian faith. He strove daily to be a prayerful, positive, practical, humorous and caring Christian to his family, friends and neighbors, each of whom he loved immensely.

Mike is survived by his beloved spouse of nearly five decades Kathy; his brother Ken and sister-in-law Tierney; brother Scott and sister-in-law JoDee; his daughter Amy and son-in-law Ben; his son David and daughter-in-law Shannon; and grandchildren Timothy, Teresa, Danny, Henry, and Amelia.

A Mass of the Resurrection will be held at St. Ann Catholic Church, 5300 North 10th Street, Arlington VA 22205 at 1 p.m. on March 14, 2026. A Commitment Ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery Columbarium will be held at a future date to be determined. In lieu of flowers, the family encourages donations to St. Ann Catholic Church or to the Parkinson’s Foundation.