Martha J. Bates

Martha J. Bates, 70, of Washington, died Tuesday, March 24, 2009, at the United Presbyterian Home in Washington, from complications of cancer.

Funeral services will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday, March 27, at the United Presbyterian Church in Washington with the Rev. Bob Wollenberg officiating. Burial will be in Elm Grove Cemetery in Washington. Visitation will begin at noon Thursday at Jones-Eden Funeral Home in Washington where the family will be present from 6 to 8 p.m. A memorial has been established for the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

Mrs. Bates was born Sept. 12, 1938, in Albia, the daughter of K.C. and Dorothy (Jones) Potts. She married Robert Bates on Nov. 18, 1962, in Albia.

She graduated from Moravia High School in 1956 and from Iowa State Teachers College in Cedar Falls in 1960. She taught home economics at Keota High School from 1960 to 1963. She was an active community member, serving on the Washington Planning and Zoning Commission and the Washington Historical Preservation Commission. She was a member and past president of Chapter MX, P.E.O., and of Chapter DL, T.T.T. She was an active member of the United Presbyterian Church in Washington, where she had most recently served as chair for the Board of Deacons.

Surviving are her husband; one daughter, Karen Bates Chabal and husband Ed of Mount Pleasant; one son, Brian Bates of Iowa City; two grandchildren; and one brother, Robert Potts of rural Blakesburg.

She was preceded in death by her parents, and one brother, Richard Potts.