William Murray Bates

William (Bill) M. Bates, a journalist and U.S. Senate press secretary whose career lead to an independent public relations and government affairs business, died Oct. 24 in Atlanta, Ga., at the age of 92. Born Nov. 20, 1926, to Ferd B. and Maggie Smith Bates in Scott, Ga. (Johnson County), he was a Navy veteran who served in the Pacific during World War II, including on the USS Alfred A. Cunningham (DD-752), rising to the rank of Signalman Third Class. After receiving an honorable discharge, he enrolled in the University of Georgia, where he graduated magna cum laude and class valedictorian from the Henry W. Grady School of Journalism in 1949. While at UGA, he was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, editor of The Red & Black campus newspaper, and contributing writer to The Georgia Review. He was later inducted into UGA’s Gridiron Secret Society. He began his journalism career as a reporter for United Press (UP) in Atlanta and subsequently served in several posts for UP, including the Washington, D.C., bureau, where he was assigned to cover the Army-McCarthy hearings. He also often joined a group of reporters who accompanied President Harry Truman on his morning walks. He came back to Georgia in 1956 to become political editor of the Atlanta Constitution but returned to Washington to serve as Senator Richard B. Russell’s first press secretary. After leaving Russell’s staff, he joined the Atlanta office of the New York-based public relations firm of Bell and Stanton, Inc., now part of Manning Selvage & Lee, where he was vice president and director. He later established William M. Bates, Inc., an Atlanta-based public relations and government affairs firm. He took a leave from his business and returned to Washington one final time to serve as press secretary for the Senate Agriculture Committee, which was chaired at the time by Georgia Senator Herman Talmadge. Following that assignment, he returned to Atlanta to resume management of his company for the next 20 years. He was a long-time member of the National Press Club, the Capital City Club, and Holy Spirit Catholic Church in northwest Atlanta, a former board member of the Georgia Forestry Association, and a trustee and former member of the executive committee of the Richard B. Russell Foundation. He was a passionate forest landowner and conservationist. He bought his first tract of land in 1952 in Treutlen County, Ga., and aptly named it the First Tract. He went on to purchase 21 more tracts of forest land in four counties in southeast Georgia and established Bates Timberlands, LLLP, as a family partnership and legacy. He was preceded in death by his first wife of 44 years, Mary Louise Taylor Bates, and daughter Roberta (Robin) Anne Murray Bates Poncinie. He is survived by his wife of 14 years, Ruth Haigh Maguire Bates; three daughters, Terri Bates (Jim Stasny) of Falls Church, Va., Holly Bates Snow (Michael) of Marietta, Ga., and Betsy Bates (Thomas Tengstrom) of Brookhaven, Ga.; sister Elaine Williams of Waynesboro, Ga.; and grandchildren Brandon and Cameron Snow, Will and Emily Poncinie, and Taylor and Sarah Tengstrom. A service to honor his life will be held at Holy Spirit Catholic Church (4465 Northside Drive, Atlanta, GA 30327) on Saturday, Nov. 2, at 10:30 a.m., followed by a reception at the Church. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions in his name to the Georgia Press Educational Foundation, which awards scholarships to Georgia residents pursuing a career in the field of print journalism (GPEF, 3066 Mercer University Drive, Suite 100, Atlanta, GA 30341, www.gapress.org).