Graveside service for Jessie Etta Bates, age 100, of Weatherford, Texas will be at 2:00 P.M., Tuesday, January 13, 2014, at the Fairlawn Cemetery, Snyder, Oklahoma with Rev. Tom Peevyhouse officiating. Burial will follow under the direction of Jackson Funeral Home, Frederick. Mrs. Bates passed away Thursday, January 8, 2015, in Weatherford, Texas. Jessie Etta Dunegan Bates was born June 28, 1914, in Wade, Oklahoma to Willie and CueBelle (Freeman) Dunegan, the second of ten children. During her early childhood, it was a time where jobs were hard to come by so her family moved frequently following the availability of work. It was while residing in Cold Springs, Oklahoma that she met and married Audlia Bates on April 7, 1934. They, too, moved frequently residing in Roosevelt, Hobart, and Cooperton until they purchased a farm east of Snyder. They farmed, ran a small dairy, and owned and operated Bates Café in Snyder. Audlia was successful at just about anything he set his mind to undertake. He eventually purchased combines and trucks and undertook contract harvesting. During the summer, the family as a unit followed the ripening wheat fields north as far as Minot, North Dakota. They would return to Snyder long enough to outfit the combines for maize harvest in west Texas in the fall. Age and health soon took its toll and they sold the farm, combine, and trucks. They purchased a home in town and semi-retired. Mr. Bates passed away January 30, 1967. After selling the house in Snyder, Jessie relocated to Oklahoma City to be near her mother. She was employed in the Housekeeping Department at Deaconess Hospital. She later moved to Shawnee, where she was employed in the Housekeeping Department at Shawnee Memorial Hospital. Upon the death of her mother, she retired as Supervisor of the department and relocated to Frederick to be near her daughter. She resided in Frederick for seventeen years. Her daughter remarried after the death of her husband and moved to Amarillo, Texas. Jessie sold her house and she too, moved to Amarillo. She lived in a retirement center until her health overtook her. She moved into a semi-care facility and eventually to a full-care facility. She was later moved to a care center in Weatherford, Texas, where she resided until her death. She was a self-taught person. She taught herself to sew and by age nine she was making dresses for her younger sister. She taught herself to crochet and made some beautiful afghans and doilies. She loved music and taught herself to play the keyboard and zither. Her love for music was evident the year she and her oldest son picked cotton to purchase him a trombone. He still has the instrument. She was a wonderful cook and could make a meal out of anything. Her chocolate pies were in great demand when they had the café in Snyder. Jessie was a very devout Christian and relied heavily on her faith during difficult times. While residing in Frederick she taught Senior Adult Ladies School at Trinity Baptist Church. As she relocated from place to place, so did her church membership. During her residency at the care facilities, she participated in Sunday services provided there until declining health prevented her attendance. Prior to her death, she often questioned God's reason for leaving her on this earth for so long. But then she always recanted with "I guess HE knows why, and that is all that matters, but I sure would like to go home." She is survived by two sons, Gerald Eugene Bates and his wife Bobbie of Weatherford, Texas and Billy Joe Bates and his wife Bernice of Hereford, Texas; one daughter, Shirley Ann (Bates) Montgomery and her husband Preston of Amarillo, Texas; two sisters, Patsy Golden and her husband Buddy of Bowie, Texas and Wilma Strange of Prescott, Arizona; nine grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents; the father of her children, Audlia Bates; one grandson, Brady Young; one great-grandson, Paul Pruszynski; five brothers, Roland, Clarence, Clyde and Jack Dunegan and one who died in infancy; and two sisters, Thelma Dunegan Sanders and Edna Dunegan Woodward. Jackson Funeral Home (580) 335-7447