Obituary of Dell Marie Bates

Dell Marie (Whitfield) Bates passed away November 25, 2008 at Oak Ridge Manor in Durant, Oklahoma. She was born September 11, 1919 near Valliant, Oklahoma, the daughter of Choctaw original enrollee Ida Austin and John Whitfield and was the great-great-granddaughter of District Chief Thomas LeFlore. She attended Wheelock Academy and Valliant Schools. After living for many years in Fresno, CA, Ms. Bates retired from PG&E to the central coast of California. She returned to Oklahoma in the 1980s, residing in Idabel for several years before relocating to Gilmer, TX and most recently to Durant. She was a member of the First Baptist Church in Idabel, Oklahoma. She was preceded in death by husbands, Harold Bates and Vern Chambers, two brothers, Sam Whitfield and Guy Whitfield, and three sisters, Johnie Mae Portman, Sue Euston and Betty Whitfield Vedder. Survivors include sister and brother-in-law, Mary and Mark Eaton of Las Cruces, New Mexico; brother, Gene Whitfield of Weatherford, Oklahoma; and many nieces and nephews.