Charles Edward “Charlie” Bates

Charlie was born on May 2, 1942, in Chicago to John and Della (Stanaway) Bates. Charlie was raised in Iron Mountain and graduated from Iron Mountain High School, Class of 1960.

Charlie worked in the information technology and telecommunications industries, beginning at Teletype Corporation in Chicago and retiring from MGIC in Milwaukee in 2004.

On Nov. 21, 1997, he was united in marriage to Rita Allen. In 2004, Charles and Rita retired and moved to Florence.

In 2008, he and Rita made Payson, Ariz., their winter home. He was a member of Moose Lodge 852 in Payson, and the Elks Lodge 2090 in Show Low, Ariz.

Charlie enjoyed woodworking throughout his life and after retirement completed two fully-functional clocks made almost entirely of wood. Charlie was also a ham radio enthusiast and was proficient in Morse code and a member of The International Morse Preservation Society.

Survivors include his loving wife, Rita; one son, John Bates of Lake Villa, Ill.; and one daughter, Anne Bates of Milwaukee.

Charles was preceded in death by his parents, Della (Jim) Finnerty and John (Nettie) Bates.

Visitation will be from noon to 1 p.m. Saturday, July 13 at the Jacobs-Lundholm Funeral Home, Florence.

A memorial service will take place at 1 p.m. at the funeral home.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Humane Society of Central Arizona (http://humanesocietycentralaz.org) in Payson, where Charlie and Rita adopted their rescue dogs, Happy and Igor.

You may leave a condolence or tribute for Charlie’s family online at www.JacobsFuneralHomes.com.

The family has chosen the Jacobs-Lundholm Funeral Home and Crematory, Florence, to honor Charlie’s legacy of life.