Peter Lisle Cates

Peter Lisle Cates, aged 73, died on December 30th, 2021, at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Martinsburg, WV, as a result of advanced cancer. Peter was born July 27th, 1948, on a US military base in West Germany, the son of Cecil and Margaret Cates.

Growing up as the middle brother in a career Army family, Peter and his older brother Paul and younger brother Mark travelled the world in their youth, but spent many of their formative years in Texas, which all 3 of them, along with their parents, later adopted as their home.

Peter was accepted to and attended Texas A&M University but left school and volunteered for the US Army and service in Vietnam as a paratrooper. Peter joined the famed 173rd Airborne Brigade, and volunteered again to serve as an Airborne Ranger, completing more than 36 combat missions behind enemy lines in small 5-to-7-man teams. For his service in Vietnam, Peter was awarded the Bronze Star with "V" designation for valor in combat, as well as the Combat Infantrymans Badge.

After Vietnam, Peter briefly left the service due to illness, and it was during this time that he met and married the love of his life, Susan Louise Boyd. They were married on December 27th, 1971, and shortly after Peter entered back onto active duty in the US Army.

Peter and Susan spent the early part of their marriage travelling from one Army posting to another, before settling in San Antonio, TX in 1980 and together raised 3 children. Peter served out his career as an instructor in Anatomy and Physiology and was a lead instructor for the Army Special Forces 18D (Medic) course taught at Fort Sam Houston, TX. He was also a Senior Parachutist with more than 80 parachute jumps over his career.

Following his retirement from the Army in 1992 after 23 years of service, Peter and Susan moved to Seguin, TX, where they bought a small ranch, and lived their dreams of breeding Appaloosa horses and running a small gunsmithing business, while staying close to both their families in central and south Texas.

Despite severe chronic pain from his service-caused disabilities, Peter and Susan made a life together after the Army, loving each other without question, until Susan was taken by a sudden and rare cancer in 2014.

In 2019, Peter made the choice to move to Virginia, and for the final 2 years of his life, was a fixture in the lives of his grandchildren, helping to pick them up from school activities, attend sporting events, and even helping teach them to drive.

Peter died on December 30th, Susans birthday, with his family by his side.

Peter was a lifelong intellectual, a lover of knowledge, a passionate reader of science (and science fiction), and a pursuer of truth. He shared these passions, and his love of life, with all who had the good fortune to know him.

Peter is survived by his brothers, Paul and Mark Cates, and by his three children, Benjamin Cates, Anna Simon and Michael Cates, and by his 7 grandchildren; Isaiah Simon; Ainsley, Gabriel, Jordan and Noelle Cates; and Alexander and Andromeda Cates.

There will be a memorial service on Monday, April 11that Porter Loring Mortuaries in San Antonio, TX, followed by interment with Full Military Honors at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.