1925 – 2013

WEST PARIS — John Newton “Jack” Bates, loving husband, father and grandfather, passed away on Thursday, Dec. 19.

Born on April 27, 1925, to John N. Bates and Rose Eloise (Rivera) Bates, he was raised and educated on Long Island in New York. He served our country as a sergeant in the U.S. Army during World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Upon returning, he moved to Levittown, N.Y., and started working for the New York Telephone Co. He stayed at both, until retiring to Rangeley in 1982.

He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Maria Del Pilar (Noriega) Bates; his children, Eloise Lewis of Woodstock, Andrew Bates and his wife, Gloria, of New York, Michael Lawrence and his wife, Robin, of Louisville, Ky., and Monica Lawrence of Tucson, Ariz.; his grandchildren, John Lewis and his wife, Tonya, of Woodstock, Benjamin Lewis of Woodstock, Olivia Bates of New York, Michael Jason Lawrence of Louisville, Ky., Joshua Lawrence and his fiancée, Natalie Cannon, of Louisville, Ky., Jonathan Lawrence of Tucson, Ariz., and Michelle Lawrence of Tucson, Ariz.; his great-grandchildren, Lily Lewis of Woodstock and Wyatt Lawrence of Louisville, Ky.; and a sister, Rosemary Brown and her husband, Bill, of North Carolina.

He was much-loved and will be greatly missed.