Zelma Irene Bates

Zelma Irene Bates was born October 27, 1923 to Bryan and Janie Lea Parks in Paducah, Cottle Co, TX. Zelma was walked to her new Heavenly Home by our Lord, Jesus Christ on June 2, 2019 at 12:45 PM after 95 (+) years. She peacefully passed away in her home she shared with her daughter, Nyoka and Jerry Lumpkin! She had a beautiful smile for everyone she met even in the last days of her life! She loved people and loved her Lord and Savior! She was raised on the 6666 Ranch and then she became a Christian as a very young girl and loved to tell people she was baptized in the Peas River and how so very cold it was! Zelma became a member of Redbud Baptist Church in Lubbock, Texas on February 2, 1986 after being with the Freewill Baptist most of her early life. She read her bible daily, up until she couldn’t comprehend and understand. She had to be the main stay and rock for her family and children since she was widowed very young in life. Nyoka loves to tell one of the things about her precious mother and that is, that Nyoka’s parents and Jerry’s parents became best friends after they married. Nyoka said that even when we first married, if we couldn’t find one set of parents at their home, we could find them at the other set of parents playing dominos! After we lost our dads, we took both of them everywhere we went and I loved introducing them as, my mother and this is my mother-in-law and see the strange looks on people’s faces! Jerry’s mother loved Nyoka’s brothers and their children like they were her own, as Zelma loved Jerry’s sister and her children as hers. Zelma is well known for her beautiful crocheted “Hot Pads” and crocheted towels, house shoes and purses! She gave away over 700 hot pads to people at Redbud Baptist Church, to the people whose hair she fixed, as wedding and birthday gifts and to anyone who crossed her path. She loved doing ceramics with her daughter and gave many of her pieces away as gifts. She is also one of three cousins of her generation who were all living, ages 90, 95 and 96. Zelma worked as a waitress for many years at the “Green Frog” Restaurant in Abilene, Texas where she met her husband, Floyd Ray Bates who was in the Army and stationed in California. They lived in California all during his being stationed there and then he was shipped out to the Philippines and she returned to Abilene waiting for him! Floyd was wounded wile there in the Philippines and transported home in 1945! She painted houses (inside and out) for several years and then went to beauty school and Floyd went to school and became a “jewelry designer and watch repairman”. She ran the Beauty Shop in several nursing homes in Coleman and in Lubbock until she retired in 2006 at age 83. Zelma is survived by Daughter - Nyoka Lumpkin and her husband, Jerry of Lubbock, Texas Son, Troy Lynn Bates of Willis, TX Grandson, Dale Ray Lumpkin of Carrolton, TX Grandson, Rodney Ray Bates and his wife, Barbara of Midland, TX Step-daughter, Janet Marie Cook of Ridgeville, SC, Five Step-Grandchildren, Eleven Step-Great Grandchildren, and Fourteen Step-Great, Great Grandchildren, Daughter-in-law, Susie Bates of Clarksville, Texas Many Nieces and Nephews and an abundance of loving friends Zelma was preceded in death by her parents, a sister (Thelma), brother (C.E. Parks), Grandson (Dustin), step-grandson (Kenny), and a son (Gaylan Ray Bates) most recently in November, 2018. A celebration of life will be held on Wednesday, June 5, 2019 at Redbud Baptist Church, 801 Slide Road, Lubbock, Texas at 10:00 am with graveside service at the Coleman Cemetery, Coleman, Texas at a later date. The family will receive friends from 6:00-7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Sanders Funeral Home. Memorials are suggested to Redbud Baptist Church or Hospice of Lubbock.

Zelma Irene Bates

October 27, 1923 - June 2, 2019