1925
Patricia
2017
Patricia Estill Bates
September 8, 1925 — October 14, 2017
Patricia Lee Estill Bates, 92, passed away on Saturday, October 14, 2017. She was born on September 9, 1925 in Tulsa, OK to Paul Errett Estill and Opal E. Estill. She received an AA degree from Gulf Park College, Gulf Port, MS and a BFA from Oklahoma University. Pat was an active member of Kappa Alpha Theta and helped start a local chapter at UNM.
In 1948 she moved to New Mexico with her newly wed husband, William Colcord Bates, who founded and ran Bates Lumber Company. Pat was active at the Junior League of Albuquerque for 10 years teaching art to underserved children. Pat studied art with Kenneth Adams, Clinton Adams, Raymond Johnson, Herb Goldman and other well known local artists at UNM, where she earned a Master's Degree in Studio Art. She was an active portrait painter early in her career. Later, she mostly painted still lives and abstracts. She was a founding organizer of the New Mexico Arts and Crafts Fair and a cofounder of the Friends of Art, which raised funds for the UNM Art Museum. She was a leader for the Camp Fire Girls for 6 years. In the 1970s she and her husband started Pawidol which sold fine Native American jewelry throughout the Southwest. Pat was an exceptional art instructor of portraiture, figurative and abstract art out of her own studio. Each winter, the Bates stayed at their home on Harbour Island, Bahamas. For 30 years in the fall, Pat went to Paris to study art and French.
Pat was preceded in death by her husband, William Colcord Bates, and a brother, Paul Estill. She is survived by her children, William "Bill" Colcord Bates, Jr., of Albuquerque, NM, and Patricia Lee Estill Bates Spragins and her husband, Pete, of Berkeley, CA; and her grandchildren, Peter Bates Spragins and Elizabeth Lee Spragins.
A memorial service will be held at the Albuquerque Country Club, Ventana Room, 601 Laguna SW, 87104, on Saturday, November 4, 2017 at 11 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, donations should be sent to the University of New Mexico Art Museum, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131.
In 1948 she moved to New Mexico with her newly wed husband, William Colcord Bates, who founded and ran Bates Lumber Company. Pat was active at the Junior League of Albuquerque for 10 years teaching art to underserved children. Pat studied art with Kenneth Adams, Clinton Adams, Raymond Johnson, Herb Goldman and other well known local artists at UNM, where she earned a Master's Degree in Studio Art. She was an active portrait painter early in her career. Later, she mostly painted still lives and abstracts. She was a founding organizer of the New Mexico Arts and Crafts Fair and a cofounder of the Friends of Art, which raised funds for the UNM Art Museum. She was a leader for the Camp Fire Girls for 6 years. In the 1970s she and her husband started Pawidol which sold fine Native American jewelry throughout the Southwest. Pat was an exceptional art instructor of portraiture, figurative and abstract art out of her own studio. Each winter, the Bates stayed at their home on Harbour Island, Bahamas. For 30 years in the fall, Pat went to Paris to study art and French.
Pat was preceded in death by her husband, William Colcord Bates, and a brother, Paul Estill. She is survived by her children, William "Bill" Colcord Bates, Jr., of Albuquerque, NM, and Patricia Lee Estill Bates Spragins and her husband, Pete, of Berkeley, CA; and her grandchildren, Peter Bates Spragins and Elizabeth Lee Spragins.
A memorial service will be held at the Albuquerque Country Club, Ventana Room, 601 Laguna SW, 87104, on Saturday, November 4, 2017 at 11 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, donations should be sent to the University of New Mexico Art Museum, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131.
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