The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Lifetime volunteer served country, students
Decatur educator taught at Brenau, DeKalb Technical.
Decatur’s Jack H. Bates was eyewitness to meetings of two American military legends while serving in World War II.
Bates was 17 and three months shy of high school graduation when he enlisted in the Army. Skilled in typing and shorthand, he landed stints in an Army clerical pool and as one of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s secretaries, Bates’ granddaughter, LoriBeth Blair, said.
“He didn’t really talk about the nitty-gritty of the military much,” Blair said of her grandfather.
But Bates did regale the family with stories of heated discussions between Eisenhower and the hard-driven Gen. George Patton, she said.
“‘I heard Eisenhower and Patton arguing frequently,’” Bates would say. He recalled that, in those meetings, Eisenhower was usually trying to temper Patton, a “very fiery” commander, Blair said.
Jack H. Bates, World War II veteran, career educator and community volunteer, died March 8 in Decatur, where he had lived for 40-plus years. He was 92.
Bates, a native of Presque Isle, Maine, was severely wounded in World War II when a trench collapsed. He spent several months in a London hospital recovering from back and pelvic injuries before returning to active duty.
He was tapped to be one of Eisenhower’s secretaries after being drafted for the Army’s clerical staff by a sergeant who scoured the enlisted men for soldiers who could type, his family said.
After his service in the war, Bates returned to his native Maine, enrolled in a teacher training program at Bangor’s Husson College and met and married Hazel Paige, his wife of more than 50 years.
Bates had a love of learning and attained his bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Maine in 1948.
He went on to earn his master’s in education, his master’s in business administration and his doctorate in educational psychology from Boston University.
“I expect he’d always been just a little smarter than the average bear,” quipped granddaughter LoriBeth.
“He had a real talent for learning,” she said, noting that not long ago Bates was recognized as one of only a handful of people still certified to teach American shorthand.
Bates worked until he was 88 and had teaching jobs in several states. He began his career instructing students in Maine and Massachusetts in typing and American shorthand. He then moved to South Carolina to teach high school at Thornwell Orphanage.
In the 1970s, Bates and his family relocated to Georgia, which led him to teaching assignments at Brenau University, Georgia Perimeter College and DeKalb Technical College.
At DeKalb Tech, he taught both psychology and accounting until the administration forced him to choose between the two subjects. He picked psychology.
He opened a diner in East Ridge, Tenn. while living there and teaching at North Georgia’s Dalton College.
Bates also was a committed volunteer, working with AID Atlanta, Jerusalem House, Fernbank Museum of Natural History and the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
He was one of Jerusalem House’s longest-serving volunteers, executive director Charlie Frew said.
For 28 years, Bates was a regular visitor at Jerusalem House, Atlanta’s oldest and largest provider of permanent housing for homeless and low-income people and families affected by HIV/ AIDS, Frew said.
“He was a constant for the residents. They called him ‘Mr. Jack,’” Frew said. “He was always a friendly face and always making sure they were on the path to surviving and thriving.”
Bates was a faithful member of Decatur First Methodist Church, teaching Sunday school, participating in the Intercessory Prayer Group and volunteering with the Stephen Ministries to provide end-of-life ministry and counseling.
“He was a man of great faith and action,” granddaughter LoriBeth said. “He had great faith in God, which guided him to have faith in humanity, which he then acted upon.”
In 2001, Bates and some of his classmates were invited back to their high school to have the graduation ceremony they missed by responding to the call to war.
Bates walked with the Class of 2001 — including granddaughter LoriBeth — wearing his doctoral robes.
A celebration of Bates’ life was held March 12 at his church.
His survivors include his daughter, Kathryn Blair; granddaughter LoriBeth Blair; and his sister, Helen Gardiner.