Edson Conant Bates

EDSON C. BATES, 94, passed away in his sleep Friday evening, April 1, 2011. He had been a three year patient at Bethlehem Woods Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Fort Wayne. Born on July 16, 1916 in Hermon, New York, he was the son of Thomas S. and Eva E. (Conant) Bates. He was the younger of their two children. His parents were school teachers, and he spent summers on the Conant homestead in Northern New York with his brother and parents. The remainder of the year was spent in the Bates home in Bronx, N.Y. when school was in session. His maternal ancestors of Conant founded the city of Salem, Mass. in 1626, and his ninth great-grandfather was Roger Conant, First Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. His eighth great-great-aunt was Martha Allen Carrier, hanged as a witch during the 1692 Salem Witch Trials He was interested in history and genealogy. He graduated from City College of New York in 1938 with a B.S. degree. He later attended school at Pratt Institute, and took some art and drafting courses after college. His first main job was with Liberty Aircraft in Farmingdale, N.Y. While there, he worked on sub-contract jobs with Republic and Grumman Aircraft helping design Grumman "Hellcat" and "Wild Cat" as well as the Republic "Thunderbolt." He married Alice E. Halkyard in 1945 where the family maintained a home in Deer Park and later in West Babylon, N.Y. She passed away in 1975. After the Korean War and well into the 1980s, he worked as a tool designer for such companies as Stratos Engineering, Bulova Watch and Lily Tulip Cup Corporation. He retired at the age of 66 from Owens - Illinois in Perrysburg, Ohio in 1982. He had a long association as an organist within the Methodist church and retired first with Lindenhurst United Methodist Church on Long Island after 25 years. He moved to Toledo in 1978 with his daughter Eva, where he assumed the position of organist with the Ottawa River United Methodist Church in Point Place, a suburb of Toledo. He remained there until 1998 as organist. He moved to Fort Wayne in 2001 after selling his home in Toledo to be close to his son Ted. He is survived by his son, Theodore (Alice Ann) Bates of Fort Wayne; daughter, Eva M. Bates of Fort Wayne; granddaughters, Jane Elizabeth (Gary) Chronister of Decatur, Donna Marie (Scott) Walker of Fort Worth, Texas, Sarah Ann Bates of Summerville, S.C.; great-grandchildren, Andrea and Jason Chronister of Decatur. He was preceded in death also by his parents and older brother, Mortimer Conant Bates. Service is 1 p.m. Thursday, April 7, 2011 at Hockemeyer & Miller Funeral Home, 6131 St. Joe Rd., Fort Wayne, with visitation one hour prior to service. Pastor Bill Farmer, former pastor at Taylor Chapel United Methodist Church in Fort Wayne, officiating. Visitation also from 2 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 6, 2011, at the funeral home. Burial will be in Jerusalem Cemetery, Canton, N.Y. Memorials may be given to Taylor Chapel United Methodist Church, 10145 Maysville Rd., Fort Wayne, IN 46835