Kenneth O. Kates

Kenneth O. Kates went to spend eternity with Jesus Christ on February 8, 2007. He was born February 11, 1941 in the back room of a little house in Edmond, Oklahoma to Orin Sidney Kates and Arta Neomi Hostetter Kates. The Kates family made Baytown their home in 1955, and Kenneth graduated from Robert E. Lee High School in 1960.

Upon graduation, he joined the United States Marine Corps Air Wing, where he was trained as a Hydraulic Specialist Air Mechanic and maintained the hydraulic systems on the A4D Skyrays and A4D Skyhawks. While assigned to VMA223 Squadron, Kenneth served at El Toro Air Base in Santa Ana, California and in Iwakuni, Japan, where his squadron was sent on “training” deployments to South Korea, Taiwan, Guam, and the Philippines. In 1964, he was assigned to the Marine Corps Air Reserve Training Command and returned to Baytown after receiving his Honorable Discharge in 1966.

Kenneth worked for a local home construction company for a short while and then continued in construction with the A.J. Mundy Construction Company, working turn-arounds and shut-downs at several chemical companies in the Houston Ship Channel area. Kenneth then joined The Upjohn Company of La Porte, Texas in 1967, where he served in several capacities in the Receiving/Stores Warehouse, Purchasing Dept., Shipping Dept., and ultimately serving as the supervisor of the Traffic Dept. When the Dow Chemical Company purchased the La Porte plant, Kenneth continued his career as supervisor of the Order Possessing Dept. and later became a specialist responsible for specific product coordination, ocean terminal negotiations and audits, and hazardous material regulation compliance. He finished his career as a member of the Dow Chemical Company’s United States Team of Hazardous Material Coordinators responsible for training, compliance, and incident investigation of the U.S. Department of Transportation Hazardous Material Regulations at the La Porte, Texas and Plaquemine, Louisiana plants.

After 32 combined years of service, Kenneth retired in 1998. He spent his remaining years helping friends and neighbors with construction/building projects, hunting, fishing, and traveling.

Kenneth was also a Master Mason and a member of the Baytown Lodge 1357, serving as Worship Master in 1995-1996.

Kenneth was preceded in death by his mother, Arta Neomi Hostetter Kates, by his father, Orin Sidney Kates, by his sister, Jane Schardt and her husband Bill, and by his brother, Jewel Kates. He is survived by his daughter, Dr. Cindy Kates of Hitchcock, his fiancée, Beverly Lord of Houston, and his son-in-law, Eric Hammond. He is also survived by his sisters Maezelle Williams and her husband Carl of Jay, OK, Donna Taller of Denton, TX, Emma Standish of Bartlesville, OK, Genette Kates of Bartlesville, OK, his sister-in-law, Verla Kates of Stillwater, OK, and his brother Ray Kates and his wife Carol of Oklahoma City, OK.

Visitation will be held at the Navarre Funeral Home in Baytown. Friends may call between 4:00 and 6:00 PM on Saturday, February 10, 2007. Funeral Services will be held in the Chapel of the Navarre Funeral Home on Sunday, February 11, 2007 at 2:00 PM with the Reverend Tommy Clements of Second Baptist Church of Baytown officiating. Interment will follow immediately at Earthman’s Memory Gardens in Baytown.

For those desiring, donations may be made in his name to the Kenneth O. Kates Memorial Scholarship Fund, care of Amegy Bank, 2501 Palmer Highway, Suite 100, Texas City, Texas 77590.

Arrangements are under the direction of Navarre Funeral Home and Cremation Services, 2444 Rollingbrook Drive, Baytown, TX 77521, (281) 422-8111.