Ruth Bates

January 14, 1918 - April 8, 2016

Ruth Daniel Bates January 14, 1918 - April 8, 2016   Tupelo - Ruth Daniel Bates passed away on Friday April 8, 2016, following a wonderful full life of 98 years. She was born and raised in Rocky Mount, North Carolina and attended St. Mary's Junior College in Raleigh, North Carolina and Marjorie Webster in Washington D.C.  She lived in Aberdeen, South Dakota and made her home in Orlando, Florida beginning in 1950 with her husband who served as a naval aviator during World War II. She will be remembered by all her friends and family as a devoted wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother who touched all the lives of her many friends, whom she adored, with her loving gentle nature. She enjoyed golfing, bridge and her Christian Prayer Group.  She was preceded in death by her parents John Henry Daniel and Mary Henrietta Jones Daniel; her beloved husband Loring Morse Bates, Jr.; her sisters Jocile Daniel Eatman (Charles), Mary Henrietta (Titter) Daniel Gordon (E.D.), Harriet Cole Daniel; her brothers John Henry Daniel, Jr. (Augusta) and William Hill Daniel. Survivors include her daughter Ruth Bates Eckman (Walter) and son Loring Morse Bates III (Diane); Grandchildren, William Eckman (Damaris), Brian Bates (Connie), John Eckman (Michelle), Stephen Eckman (Laura), Stacie Kimble (Dan) and 10 greatgrandchildren; nieces and nephews Ed Gordon (Irma), Mary Pruden Garlow, Mary Henrietta Williams (Johnny), Mary Frances Wilson (Braxton), Richard Bates (Jenny) and Betsy Cox (Perry). Interment will be in Rocky Mount, North Carolina and a Celebration of Life Service will be at a later date in Orlando, Florida. Memorials may be made to Pine Ridge Presbyterian Church 3900 S. Hiawassee Rd., Orlando, FL 32835, Sanctuary Home Hospice P.O. Box 2177, Tupelo, MS 38803 or charity of your choice. Expressions of sympathy may be left at www.peguesfuneralhome.com