Charles Ray Bates, 78, a longtime resident of Summit, MS, died on September 26, 2021, at Southwest MS Regional Medical Center in McComb, following a brief illness.
Charles was born on August 22, 1943, the son of Aubrey and Ora Lee Foster Bates.
He graduated from Fernwood High School, Class of 1961. Following graduation, Charles attended Southwest MS Community College where he was a star basketball player and was a member of the Southwest Mississippi Community College MS State Championship team for the 1962-1963 season. About 50 years later, Charles and his wife were selected as Alumni of the Year for their influence and contributions to Southwest MS Community College.
While at Southwest, Charles met his sweetheart and future wife, Joyce Watts. They were married in 1962 and celebrated their fifty-sixth wedding anniversary before Joyce's death in 2019. Charles and Joyce had one daughter, Terri Lynn.
During the 1960s and 1970s, Charles worked for the IC Railroad and Eisworth Motor Company of McComb. He was the first basketball coach for both boys and girls at Parklane Academy in McComb in 1971-72. In the early 1980's, Charles and Joyce, a speech-language pathologist, opened the Speech and Hearing Center in McComb. From there Charles went on to become Marketing Director for both Pro Rehab, Inc. of North Carolina and Quality Care and Rehab, Inc. of Baton Rouge, LA. In October of 2001, Charles purchased the MS portion of Quality Care and Rehab, Inc. which he and Joyce developed into The Summit Health and Rehab Services, Inc. Charles served as CEO and President of The Summit until he sold the company in 2018. The Summit operated in hospitals, private clinics, and nursing facilities in four states throughout the South.
Charles was a faithful member of First Baptist Church of Summit and served as a deacon and Sunday School teacher for many years.
Charles was preceded in death by his parents, his sister, Shirley Wicker, of Fernwood, an infant nephew, Dennis Keith Wicker, of Fernwood, and his beloved wife, Joyce.
He is survived by his daughter, Terri Bates Montgomery and husband, Richard, of Summit; seven grandchildren, Devin Baker of Summit, Derek, and Kendall Baker of Texas, Logan, Regan, and Chandler Bates, and Britney Montgomery of Summit; two great-grandchildren, Maggie Rae and Adelynn Rose Baker of Texas; a brother-in-law, Sandy Watts and wife, Nancy, of Knoxville, TN; a niece, Patricia Smith, of Summit, and a nephew, Kenny Wicker, of Fernwood; and many other nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews; and a host of friends.
Charles was a loving husband, father, and grandfather. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.
Visitation will be at First Baptist Church of Summit from 10:00 AM until 12:00 Noon on Thursday, September 30, 2021 with the funeral following at Noon. Interment will be at Woodlawn Cemetery in Summit, MS. Hartman Jones Funeral Home is in charge of funeral arrangements.
Charles was born on August 22, 1943, the son of Aubrey and Ora Lee Foster Bates.
He graduated from Fernwood High School, Class of 1961. Following graduation, Charles attended Southwest MS Community College where he was a star basketball player and was a member of the Southwest Mississippi Community College MS State Championship team for the 1962-1963 season. About 50 years later, Charles and his wife were selected as Alumni of the Year for their influence and contributions to Southwest MS Community College.
While at Southwest, Charles met his sweetheart and future wife, Joyce Watts. They were married in 1962 and celebrated their fifty-sixth wedding anniversary before Joyce's death in 2019. Charles and Joyce had one daughter, Terri Lynn.
During the 1960s and 1970s, Charles worked for the IC Railroad and Eisworth Motor Company of McComb. He was the first basketball coach for both boys and girls at Parklane Academy in McComb in 1971-72. In the early 1980's, Charles and Joyce, a speech-language pathologist, opened the Speech and Hearing Center in McComb. From there Charles went on to become Marketing Director for both Pro Rehab, Inc. of North Carolina and Quality Care and Rehab, Inc. of Baton Rouge, LA. In October of 2001, Charles purchased the MS portion of Quality Care and Rehab, Inc. which he and Joyce developed into The Summit Health and Rehab Services, Inc. Charles served as CEO and President of The Summit until he sold the company in 2018. The Summit operated in hospitals, private clinics, and nursing facilities in four states throughout the South.
Charles was a faithful member of First Baptist Church of Summit and served as a deacon and Sunday School teacher for many years.
Charles was preceded in death by his parents, his sister, Shirley Wicker, of Fernwood, an infant nephew, Dennis Keith Wicker, of Fernwood, and his beloved wife, Joyce.
He is survived by his daughter, Terri Bates Montgomery and husband, Richard, of Summit; seven grandchildren, Devin Baker of Summit, Derek, and Kendall Baker of Texas, Logan, Regan, and Chandler Bates, and Britney Montgomery of Summit; two great-grandchildren, Maggie Rae and Adelynn Rose Baker of Texas; a brother-in-law, Sandy Watts and wife, Nancy, of Knoxville, TN; a niece, Patricia Smith, of Summit, and a nephew, Kenny Wicker, of Fernwood; and many other nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews; and a host of friends.
Charles was a loving husband, father, and grandfather. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.
Visitation will be at First Baptist Church of Summit from 10:00 AM until 12:00 Noon on Thursday, September 30, 2021 with the funeral following at Noon. Interment will be at Woodlawn Cemetery in Summit, MS. Hartman Jones Funeral Home is in charge of funeral arrangements.
Charles Ray Bates, 78, a longtime resident of Summit, MS, died on September 26, 2021, at Southwest MS Regional Medical Center in McComb, following a brief illness.
Charles was born on August 22, 1943, the son of Aubrey and Ora Lee Foster Bates.
He graduated from Fernwood High School, Class of 1961. Following graduation, Charles attended Southwest MS Community College where he was a star basketball player and was a member of the Southwest Mississippi Community College MS State Championship team for the 1962-1963 season. About 50 years later, Charles and his wife were selected as Alumni of the Year for their influence and contributions to Southwest MS Community College.
While at Southwest, Charles met his sweetheart and future wife, Joyce Watts. They were married in 1962 and celebrated their fifty-sixth wedding anniversary before Joyce's death in 2019. Charles and Joyce had one daughter, Terri Lynn.
During the 1960s and 1970s, Charles worked for the IC Railroad and Eisworth Motor Company of McComb. He was the first basketball coach for both boys and girls at Parklane Academy in McComb in 1971-72. In the early 1980's, Charles and Joyce, a speech-language pathologist, opened the Speech and Hearing Center in McComb. From there Charles went on to become Marketing Director for both Pro Rehab, Inc. of North Carolina and Quality Care and Rehab, Inc. of Baton Rouge, LA. In October of 2001, Charles purchased the MS portion of Quality Care and Rehab, Inc. which he and Joyce developed into The Summit Health and Rehab Services, Inc. Charles served as CEO and President of The Summit until he sold the company in 2018. The Summit operated in hospitals, private clinics, and nursing facilities in four states throughout the South.
Charles was a faithful member of First Baptist Church of Summit and served as a deacon and Sunday School teacher for many years.
Charles was preceded in death by his parents, his sister, Shirley Wicker, of Fernwood, an infant nephew, Dennis Keith Wicker, of Fernwood, and his beloved wife, Joyce.
He is survived by his daughter, Terri Bates Montgomery and husband, Richard, of Summit; seven grandchildren, Devin Baker of Summit, Derek, and Kendall Baker of Texas, Logan, Regan, and Chandler Bates, and Britney Montgomery of Summit; two great-grandchildren, Maggie Rae and Adelynn Rose Baker of Texas; a brother-in-law, Sandy Watts and wife, Nancy, of Knoxville, TN; a niece, Patricia Smith, of Summit, and a nephew, Kenny Wicker, of Fernwood; and many other nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews; and a host of friends.
Charles was a loving husband, father, and grandfather. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.
Visitation will be at First Baptist Church of Summit from 10:00 AM until 12:00 Noon on Thursday, September 30, 2021 with the funeral following at Noon. Interment will be at Woodlawn Cemetery in Summit, MS. Hartman Jones Funeral Home is in charge of funeral arrangements.
Charles was born on August 22, 1943, the son of Aubrey and Ora Lee Foster Bates.
He graduated from Fernwood High School, Class of 1961. Following graduation, Charles attended Southwest MS Community College where he was a star basketball player and was a member of the Southwest Mississippi Community College MS State Championship team for the 1962-1963 season. About 50 years later, Charles and his wife were selected as Alumni of the Year for their influence and contributions to Southwest MS Community College.
While at Southwest, Charles met his sweetheart and future wife, Joyce Watts. They were married in 1962 and celebrated their fifty-sixth wedding anniversary before Joyce's death in 2019. Charles and Joyce had one daughter, Terri Lynn.
During the 1960s and 1970s, Charles worked for the IC Railroad and Eisworth Motor Company of McComb. He was the first basketball coach for both boys and girls at Parklane Academy in McComb in 1971-72. In the early 1980's, Charles and Joyce, a speech-language pathologist, opened the Speech and Hearing Center in McComb. From there Charles went on to become Marketing Director for both Pro Rehab, Inc. of North Carolina and Quality Care and Rehab, Inc. of Baton Rouge, LA. In October of 2001, Charles purchased the MS portion of Quality Care and Rehab, Inc. which he and Joyce developed into The Summit Health and Rehab Services, Inc. Charles served as CEO and President of The Summit until he sold the company in 2018. The Summit operated in hospitals, private clinics, and nursing facilities in four states throughout the South.
Charles was a faithful member of First Baptist Church of Summit and served as a deacon and Sunday School teacher for many years.
Charles was preceded in death by his parents, his sister, Shirley Wicker, of Fernwood, an infant nephew, Dennis Keith Wicker, of Fernwood, and his beloved wife, Joyce.
He is survived by his daughter, Terri Bates Montgomery and husband, Richard, of Summit; seven grandchildren, Devin Baker of Summit, Derek, and Kendall Baker of Texas, Logan, Regan, and Chandler Bates, and Britney Montgomery of Summit; two great-grandchildren, Maggie Rae and Adelynn Rose Baker of Texas; a brother-in-law, Sandy Watts and wife, Nancy, of Knoxville, TN; a niece, Patricia Smith, of Summit, and a nephew, Kenny Wicker, of Fernwood; and many other nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews; and a host of friends.
Charles was a loving husband, father, and grandfather. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.
Visitation will be at First Baptist Church of Summit from 10:00 AM until 12:00 Noon on Thursday, September 30, 2021 with the funeral following at Noon. Interment will be at Woodlawn Cemetery in Summit, MS. Hartman Jones Funeral Home is in charge of funeral arrangements.
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