BATES, Maxine

BATES Maxine Belle Bates (Dee Dee) slipped through the veil on July 5 at age 102.
Maxine was born on November 21, 1920, in Lethbridge, Albera, to Mary Isabelle Lyon and Harry Sylvester McClain, but she was raised by her mother and beloved stepfather, Christian Egger. Maxine was the second of five Egger children and spent her youth on a farm near Carmangay. She, her older sister, and a cousin moved to town and rented a little house to complete high school, where she may have had more fun than schooling (despite being an honor student). In Maxine’s words, “I had such a good time those two years and made great memories.”
In 1939, Maxine eloped with Frank Bates, a seasonal hired hand on her father’s farm. After their marriage, Frank was required to spend the war effort as an employee in the Shaugnessy Coal Mine. Maxine and Frank welcomed five children and raised their family on farms near Carmangay and Vulcan. They later moved to a ranch near Owendale. Maxine and Frank retired to Lethbridge where Frank passed away and Maxine spent the rest of her life. Maxine often called Frank a good man and a handsome man, and she always felt it a tragedy their grandchildren did not have more time with him.
But providence gave their grandchildren another 45 years with Maxine. Despite being a widow for so long, Maxine was never far from family. She was enormously proud of her posterity. She had two daughters, three sons, 21 grandchildren, 53 great grandchildren, and 21 great, great grandchildren – a posterity of 95 that spans five generations. As Maxine said a few weeks ago, while looking at a picture of her husband, “We sure started something!” Maxine’s children and grandchildren are equally proud of her, often bragging about their amazing, fashionable, and in all other ways “cool” grandmother.
Maxine loved to travel and to visit her children and grandchildren throughout Canada and around the world. From dancing on cruise ships to stealing boogie boards from grandkids, Maxine made the most of her travels. If she wasn’t traveling, she was often on the phone with her sons or grandsons who loved to call and have long conversations while they drove truck.
Maxine joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as an adult and her lifelong faith in God and Jesus Christ blessed her family.
The family expresses their deep gratitude to the staff of St. Therese Villa for their tender care at the end of Maxine’s life.
Maxine is survived by her sister Marlene Aldoff, her children Carolee (Newell) Jackson, Franklin (Elisa) Bates, Judy (Gordon) Manville, and Darryl (Valerie) Bates; daughter-in-law Kayleen Bates; and her many grandchildren.
Maxine is preceded in death by her parents and her beloved husband, sisters Connie Stetner and Charlotte Hofarth, brother Raymond Egger, son Danny Joe Bates, grandson Kevin Bates, and granddaughters Rebekah Manville and Allie Elkabir.
Services will be held on Thursday, July 13, at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Fairmont Ward, 426 Couleesprings Rd S, Lethbridge, AB. Viewing held from 9:30-10:30 a.m. Funeral services begin at 11:00 a.m. Internment at Mountain View Cemetery (1210 Scenic Dr. Lethbridge)
Visit www.generationsfh.ca to send a condolence.