Submitted by: Dan Rich

Ophelia Pates

Sept. 12, 1934 - Nov. 5, 1997

South Bend Tribune 11/9/1997

SOUTH BEND - Mrs. Ophelia Pates, 63, of North Diamond Avenue, South Bend, Ind., passed away following an illness at 12:10 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 5, in St. Joseph's Medical Center. On. Sept. 12, 1934, in Shelby, Miss., she was born to Henry Mitchell and Annie Mae Grady. She was a member of the Sweet Home Missionary Baptist Church for 20 years.

Leaving to cherish her memory are a special friend, Leonard Love; six daughters, Viola Pates, Annie Ruth Pates, Yvonne Pates, Ophelia (Yulese) Cassell and Linda (Kenneth) Cutler, all of South Bend, and Patricia (Louis) Leonard of Elkhart, Ind.; a daughter-in-law, Linda Pates of South Bend; two sons, Johnnell Pates of South Bend and Charles (Phyllis) Pates of Osceola, Ind.; 45 grandchildren and a host of great-grandchildren; four sisters, Ruthie Proctor of Cleveland, Miss., Christine Harris of Greenwood, Miss., Willie M. Whitehall of Ittabena, Miss., and Jacquelyn Grady of Cleveland, Ohio; four brothers, Nathaniel (Vernita) Wilson, Malachi (Naomi) Howder and Lamar Grady, all of South Bend, and Willie D. (Ethel) Whitehall of Ittabena; a brother-in-law, Willie Pates of Fennville, Tenn.; and a host of cousins and friends. She was preceded in death by two sons, Robert Pates, Jr., and Wilbert Pates in 1996.

Services will be held at 1 p.m. on Monday at the Sweet Home Missionary Baptist Church. Visitation will be from 7 to 9 p.m. today at Alford's Mortuary.