Claude L Bates' Obituary
Claude Leland (Lee) Bates, Jr, age 72, passed away July 15th, 2020
Lee was born (November 19, 1947) in Waycross, GA where he was raised. As a child, Lee was active in Boy Scouts and earned the honor of Eagle Scout in December 1965. He helped his father and uncles in their bee keeping business and would often tell stories of working for them in the summers. As an adult he belonged to the Boy Scouts Order of the Arrow and received his Silver Beaver Award in 1990. This is a very rare award presented for serving 25 years as a Boy Scout Leader. He not only had fun teaching boys to become responsible young men, as an adult leader he was also Lodge Advisor (Chewhaw 90-92) and also served as Scouting Coordinator for Chewhaw. He enjoyed attending Boy Scout Jamborees and organized them as well. He also was very active in helping with the up keep Camp Osbourne for the Scouts. He rebuilt the dock one year and worked on the construction of several of the other buildings over the years.
He was an auto-cad technician and worked in the mobile home construction business in GA for over 30 years designing & naming different models of mobile homes for several companies: Littleton Corporation, LRA and Peach State Homes.
He moved to FL a little over 15 years ago, where he worked as an ice cream truck driver and an audo-cad technician for a local construction contractor. When he wasn’t working he would drive around and find construction projects to watch. He watched them build the overpass by Clearwater mall, apartment complexes down town and where ever something new was going up he would be watching.
He accepted Christ as a child & told me on several occasions, he knew where he was going when he died.
Lee was a loving husband and will be truly missed.
He is survived by his wife of 6 years, Eleanor Rouse Bates of St. Petersburg, FL
His brother, Bill Buck Bates & his wife Cecilia (Pedi) of Greenville, SC.
His nephews: Zachry Bates, his wife Kristen and their daughter, Lawrenna Grace of Statesboro, GA and Buck Bates, his wife Haleigh and their children, Caden Buck, Adeline Cecilia, and Mason George.
His niece: Allyson, her husband Eddie Roberts and their children Lillian Mabel and Leland Bates of St. Simon’s Island, GA
Eleanor’s sister: Brenda Rouse Hodge of Pinellas Park, FL
Eleanor’s uncle: Harry Ulmer and Aunt, Cecelia Poorman both of Clinton, AR
Eleanor’s brother-in-law: Martin Schrader, of Chiefland, FL
Eleanor’s nieces & nephews: Kristine Schrader Dillon of Chiefland, FL & Samantha Schrader of St. Petersburg, FL, Chris Nelson, Sr. & Robert Hodge III of St Petersburg, FL & Matthew Schrader of Chiefland, FL
Eleanor’s great nieces & nephews: Lisa Nelson, Issabelle Nelson, and Christopher Nelson Jr of St. Petersburg, FL; Christian Schrader, Noah Hobbs & Michael Schrader of Chiefland, FL
He is preceded in death by his mother, Lois Evelyn Buck Bates and his father, Claude Leland Bates, Sr. both of Waycross, GA
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