LeRoy E. Bates, M.D.

Dr. LeRoy Evans Bates was born on March 8, 1904 and died on Saturday, August 2, 2008 at the age of 104. He was welcomed at home in San Antonio, Texas by his parents, the Reverend LeRoy Sumner Bates and Mary Fanny Evans Bates and older sister, Helen. He was baptized at St. Marks Episcopal Church the following Easter Sunday.

He spent his early childhood in northern Mexico where his father was the Archdeacon of the Anglican Diocese of Northern Mexico. There he became fluent in Spanish which he used in his practice of medicine.

He graduated from Main Avenue High School in San Antonio and the University of Texas in Austin and attended Columbia University Medical School.

He graduated from the University of Texas Medical School in Galveston and did postgraduate studies at the Sorbonne in Paris, France. He became fluent in French and enjoyed the culture of the continent. He further continued his studies at the University of Vienna.

Besides his lifelong passion for the practice of medicine, he loved traveling and circled the world until his mid nineties.

He practiced medicine in San Antonio for over sixty years. He was honored by the American Medical Association as the oldest family practitioner to be Board Certified.

Recently, he was honored by the University of Texas Medical School in Galveston as a physician of high esteem. He was one of the first physicians in San Antonio to initiate a blood transfusion.

He was a board member at the Mission Road Foundation, the Boy Scouts, the Santa Rosa Hospital and the Baptist Hospital.

As an intern at Santa Rosa Hospital, he met his future wife, Elizabeth Pope and they were married for fifty-seven years.

He is predeceased by his beloved wife, Elizabeth; son and daughter-in-law, Dr. and Mrs. LeRoy Evans Bates Jr. and grandson, LeRoy Evans Bates, III. He is survived by three children, Lois Jones, Frances Harrison Mrs. John R. and Robert Bates Julie; seven grandchildren, Janelle Jones MacDonald, JoLynn Jones Leonard Kevin, Robert Jackson Jones Laila, Jeffery Jones, Lisa Harrison Hanson Erik, John R. Harrison, Jr. Karen and Emily Harrison Liljenwall Ted; ten great grandchildren, Julia MacDonald, Hollis MacDonald, Lindsay MacDonald, Luke Hanson, Elisabeth Hanson, Evan Harrison, Graham Harrison, Helen Liljenwall, James Liljenwall, and Grace Liljenwall.

Memorials may be sent to the LeRoy and Norma Bates Memorial Library, Northeast Baptist Hospital 8811 Village Drive, San Antonio, Texas 78217.