Robert T. Bates, age 87, formerly of Brookings, died Monday, October 9, 2006, at the Tekakwitha Living Center in Sisseton, South Dakota. Funeral Mass will be 10:00 A.M. Friday, October 13, 2006, at St. Thomas More Catholic Parish in Brookings, with interment and military graveside rites at St. Thomas More Catholic Cemetery. Visitations will be from 4-7 P.M. Thursday at Eidsness Funeral Home, with a wake service at 7:00 P.M. at the funeral home. Robert T. Bates was born May 2, 1919, at Gettysburg, South Dakota, to Clark and Rose Ann (Mawn) Bates. He graduated from Brookings High School. He enlisted in the South Dakota National Guard on October 12, 1937, and retired as a major on July 18, 1975. During World War II, he served on active duty with the United States Army Air Corps, the 141st Army Airwaves Communications Service Squadron in the Pacific. Bob graduated from South Dakota State College in 1947. On June 11, 1946, he married Susan Clemen of Ipswich at Aberdeen, South Dakota. He sold insurance in Brookings and served on the Brookings City Commission. He was an active member of St. Thomas More Catholic Parish in Brookings. He enjoyed amateur radio, golfing, genealogy, hunting, and fishing. He was a member of the V.F.W., American Legion, and the Elks Club. In 2002 he moved to Sisseton, where he lived at Greenleaf Assisted Living and then Tekakwitha Living Center. Survivors include a son and daughter-in-law, Thomas and Lois Bates, of Sisseton, South Dakota; a daughter and son-in-law, Patricia and Curt Hadland, of Scandia, Minnesota; and four grandchildren: Laura Bates, Sarah Bates, Aaron Bates, and Brendan Bates. He was preceded in death by his wife, Susan, on October 12, 1988; his sister, Mary; and his parents, Clark and Rose Ann Bates.