Richard Laurence Yates

Richard Laurence Yates was born on November 27, 1939 in Brookmans Park, England. He was the first born son of Edith Annie Turner and Ronald Richard Hulbert Yates. Richard passed away on February 5, 2023 at the age of 83 years old.

Richard immigrated from England to the United States at a young age alongside his parents and younger sister, Pamela. Richard became a United States citizen in 1958. From an early age, Richard was passionate about serving others and was a devoted family man.

Richard grew up in Mesa, Arizona and graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering in May of 1966. After he worked as a firefighter to put himself through college, Richard turned his energy towards the military—Ranking as 1st lieutenant in the Army while on active duty in Korea. He was a 1180 AD Missile Unit Commander in the U.S. Army. He was honorably discharged from the U.S Army in March of 1967. He devoted the rest of his life to his family.

Richard never missed his children’s events. He relished in listening to his eldest daughter’s piano recitals, coaching his son’s baseball games and watching his youngest daughter dance. His children could always count on Richard as a loyal, loving father. In addition to being a wonderful father, Richard was an enthusiastic grandfather nicknamed, “Gramps”, by his two grandchildren. He carried on the tradition and attended his grandchildren’s dance recitals and choir concerts.

Richard supported his family and spent most of his career in Information Technology at IBM and Bell Helicopter. He put his engineering skills to use by building sand boxes for his children to play in and picnic tables for his family to have family dinners together. He loved gardening, playing tennis, watching sunsets, eating cheese enchiladas, and enjoying a glass of white wine outdoors on beautiful Texas summer days.

Richard is survived by his three children: Juliet Kadleck, Richard Yates Jr., Jennifer Yates and his two grandchildren: Kendall Kadleck and Ashley Kadleck. He is also survived by his sisters: Pamela Milhon and Tina Yates.   He was preceded in death by his parents: Ronald Yates and Edith Turner.

Richard will be greatly missed but never forgotten by his loved ones.

A graveside service will be held on Thursday, February 16, 2023 at 11:30am at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery, 2000 Mountain Creek Parkway, Dallas, Texas.  Richard will be honored for his service to our country and laid to rest with military honors by the United States Army. If you wish to join the service via webcast, please join this Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/6022684197847359/ .

The family would like to share memories of their dad here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z1xzYeuYPeiYaDt28ZPtOx51D8sISo-b/view .

If desired, as a tribute to Richard’s kindness and compassion to provide mental health care and support, a memorial contribution can be made in his honor to https://nami.org .