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Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
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Jim Bates
JAMES B. BATES
Cedar Rapids
Jim Bates, 70, of Cedar Rapids, passed away Monday, March 12, 2018, of a brief illness at Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids. The family will greet friends from 4 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 15, at Murdoch Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Marion. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday, March 16, at First Presbyterian Church, Marion, conducted by the Rev. Beth Hilkerbaumer. The family also will greet friends one hour prior to services at the church. Graveside services will take place at 1:30 p.m. Friday at Garden of Memories Cemetery, Waterloo.
Jim was born Dec. 12, 1947, to Burdette and Violet Bates in Cedar Falls. He grew up in Waterloo, and graduated from East High and the University of Northern Iowa. Jim moved to Cedar Rapids in 1971, and soon afterward completed his master's degree from Northeast Missouri State (Truman State). He was an English teacher, and coached football and wrestling at Marion High School from 1971 until he retired in 2008. In the early 1980s, he became a facilitator for the Iowa Writing Project.
He is survived by his wife, Sue, of Cedar Rapids; son, Jonathan of Minneapolis, Minn.; son, Shawn (Tracy), and grandsons, Taylor, Braeden and Tristan, all of Waconia, Minn.; and sisters, Judy (Jerry) Anders of Waterloo and Joyce Bates of Middleton, Wis.
In lieu of flowers, memorials in Jim's memory may be directed to First Presbyterian Church, Marion.
Please share a memory of Jim at www.murdochfuneralhome.com under obituaries.
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