Wendell E. Yates' Obituary
Funeral services for Wendell E. Yates, will be held at 11:00 A.M. on Thursday, September 26, 2019 in the Labby Memorial Funeral Home Chapel in Leesville with Bro. Terry Ward officiating. Burial will follow in the Ebenezer Cemetery in Hicks.
Visitation will be held Wednesday September 25, from 5:00 P.M. until 8:00 P.M. at the funeral home.
Wendell E. Yates, 73, of Slagle, La passed away peacefully on Sept. 22, 2019 of natural causes at The Woodlands Healthcare Center in Leesville, La where he was loved by his caregivers and referred to them as “his girls”. He was born on Nov. 8th, 1945 in Louisville, Ky. He was the oldest of 9 children born to Jesse Yates and Inis Bolling Yates. His early childhood was spent in Neon, Kentucky in Hogg Hollow and when he was a teenager he moved to Louisiana to live with his Aunt, Willie Mae Jeter and her husband Judge Jeter where he attended Hicks High School while keeping a paper route in the morning. Wendell was a serious minded and studious individual, earning an academic scholarship to Louisiana State University but chose to decline it and instead joined the U.S. Army after graduation from Hicks High School in 1964 to help support his family back home. Wendell was stationed in Germany and served during the Vietnam War. He was honorably discharged in 1967 and then worked for the Federal Govt. as a Supervisor for In and Out Processing at Ft. Polk, La until his retirement.
Wendell was married to his high school sweetheart, Diane Dykes, for 19 years and had two children during their marriage. Cynthia Louise Yates Phillips and Noel Warren Yates. He was married once more to Joan Graham for 9 years following the divorce from Diane and was unmarried at the time of his passing.
He was an outdoorsman and loved to hunt and fish. He always had some type of exotic and farm animals that he looked after and he was very mechanical and could find a way to repurpose almost everything! He had a strong sense of patriotism and responsibility to his family and was very active in his community often helping out with school events at Hicks and was instrumental in creating the volunteer fire department for Slagle, La. He was often the first person at the Slagle Mall where he had coffee made for the workers when they walked through the door. He loved spending his mornings with a cup of coffee discussing community affairs with his friends and solving the world’s problems. Wendell was a good friend to all who knew him and would not hesitate when asked to help anyone out. He will be missed and remembered fondly by all who loved him.
Wendell was preceded in death by his parents, Jesse and Inis Yates and a sister, Willie Yates of Pembroke, KY. and his Aunt, Willie Mae Yates Jeter of Hicks, LA .
He is survived by 3 brothers, Tommy Yates, Leslie Yates and James Yates of Pembroke, KY
4 sisters, Margaret McGhee of Pembroke, Ky. Gloria Rogers of Whitesburg, Ky. Greta Campbell of Pensacola, FL and Valerie Welch of Nashville, TN.
1 daughter, Cynthia Louise Yates Phillips of Benton, LA
1 son, Noel Warren Yates of Slagle, LA
5 Grandchildren, Courtney Quintana of Visalia,CA Brett LaFosse of Council Bluffs, IA, Tanner Yates of Slagle, LA and Marshall Yates of Slagle, LA and Aiden Phillips of Benton, LA
3 Great Grandchildren, Nikolai Quintana of Visalia,CA and Atlas Quintana of Visalia,CA and Autumn LaFosse of Council Bluffs, IA.
Words of comfort may be expressed to the Yates Family at www.labbymemorial.com
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