Mr. Thomas C Bates

Upon leaving the Navy he joined the Dallas Police Department for five years. Following his dream of becoming a fixed wing pilot, Tom worked at LTV during the day and went to flight school at night. He achieved all licenses including a multi-engine Air Transport Rating. Tom took a job with Cook Industries as an International Corporate Pilot in Memphis, TN and extended his experience to Europe, Africa, and South America and across the Pacific to Hawaii.

Tom finally found his way back to Texas and flew as Capitan on Jet Star and Lear planes for Transco Pipeline for fifteen years.

Leaving Transco he and his wife, Kathy, founded Rangemaster Firearms Training Facility. A state of the art shooting facility founded to teach fundamentals for the shooting sports and Concealed Handgun Licenses (CHL).

Tom’s passion was bar-b-queuing in one of three of his special smokers. Tom and Kathy would feed 100+ people on major holidays and dance to a live band.

He believed in improving his community by giving his personal time to connect city water and have the County take over the subdivision streets. At Church he served as a Lector and Extra-ordinary Eucharist Minister and spent two years studying to be a Liturgist.

Renascence Man aptly described him before it became a popular term; Tom set goals for himself and achieved them all.

Tom is preceded in death by his parents, Elmer Doyle and Edith Kathleen Bates; brother Robert Doyle Bates and Granddaughter Rachel Nicole Bates.

He is survived by his loving wife of 49 plus years, Kathleen F. Bates; Sons David Carl Bates (Brenda) and Michael Edward Bates (Jennifer), three granddaughters, Jordan, Abigail, Lydia and four grandsons, Ethan, Aiden, Conner and Dylan.

Services for Tom will be on Friday, September 30, 2016 with a Rosary at 10:00 am followed by a Celebration of Life Mass at 11:00 am at St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church, 527 S. Houston Ave., Humble, TX 77338. In lieu of flowers please make donations in Tom’s name to US Space and Rocket Center, http://rocketcenter.com/scholarshipfund or http://spacecenter.org/giving/ for the Houston area kids.