David Dee Yates

Memorial service at Ott & Lee Chapel in Morton on Friday, March 29, 2024 at 1:30pm.
**************************
Mr. David Dee Yates
Morton, MS 

Hobbies: fishing, squirrel hunting, the occasional night out to the movies, eating a good medium rare steak, & grilling delicious tangy bbq chicken (homemade sauce supplied by his spouse). The bbq chicken was especially enjoyed by his sons & even once by a pet rabbit.

David was a man born to a large family of humble beginnings. Material possessions, money, & even food were often hard to come by. Many people are born poor of material possessions, & sadly many more are born poor of spirit. Throughout his life, David proved to be rich in spirit with a deep-rooted sense of family obligation, a hard work ethic, & lots of personal determination. These qualities led David to rise above his humble beginnings & succeed in the many different phases of his life & career.

Like many of his generation, a young David chose not to complete his formal education to keep food on the table for the family. Despite not completing his education, David always found ways to teach himself to succeed throughout his many different careers. At 70 years of age, David decided to complete his education & obtain his GED. His family is very proud of this.

Early in his working career, David traveled the country setting up laboratory equipment. Later in his career, he went on to manage & set up multiple furniture manufacturing plants, owning his own business, & finally maintaining industrial refrigerated warehouses. In 1980 David gave up his career in furniture manufacturing to move back to Mississippi to be near his aging mother, siblings, & sons. David officially retired in 2015 & spent the last years of his life being caretaker to his wife Lynne who survives him.

He is preceded in death by his parents, A.D. Yates & Lela Goss Yates; siblings, 4 sisters: Lyrie Barrett, Mildred Collins, Billie Jean Goldapske, Floramae Turnage & 1 brother, Jack Yates.

He is survived by his loving wife, Marjorie Lynne Yates of Morton; children, William David Yates (Sharon) of AL, Robert Mitchell Yates (Dee) of AL & Shawn Castles Yates of MS; brother, W.L. (Dub) Yates (Linda) of MS, nephew,Kenneth Wilson (Anne); 11 grandchildren, Joseph David, Jason Mathew, Robert Dale, Ashley Nicole, TimothyMitchell, Cody Mitchell, Katie Diane, Jesse Robert, Wendy, Mariah, Cassey; 23 great grandchildren & a host of friends.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in David’s name to St. Jude’s Hospital.