Clifton E. (Gene) Yates

Clifton E. (Gene) Yates died peacefully Friday, January 4, 2008, in his home. His wife and members of his family were at his bedside.

He was born July 27, 1931, in Williford, Arkansas, to Lonnie Ben and Nola Jane (Baird) Yates. Gene and family moved from Arkansas to Powell Butte in 1947 where he completed his schooling in Redmond. Gene served in the Air Force during the Korean conflict and returned home to Redmond where he served as police commissioner and an ambulance driver. He was also a member of the Redmond volunteer fire department.

He worked in the trucking industry in Redmond, Klamath Falls and Portland until moving to Culver and starting a farm. He later went back to work in the trucking industry, opening a trucking terminal in Bend, moved to Eugene, then to Reno, Nevada and then onto Portland where he retired as a member of the board of directors for Viking Freight System.

Finally retiring from trucking, he moved to Redmond where he continued operating a partnership peppermint distillery with his friends of many years.

His hobbies were golf, hunting, fishing and spending time with family.

Preceded in death by his first wife Wanda Yates and his brother Buel Yates, he is survived by his wife Debra and two children, Caryn Yates of Bend and Philip Yates of Sisters, a stepdaughter Tammy Worden of Beaverton, four brothers, Burl Yates of Beaver Creek, George and Tom Yates of Klamath Falls, Dell Yates of Bend and sister Earlene Moon of Culver, as well as three grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at the Powell Butte Christian Church Historic Building on Saturday, January 12, at 10 a.m. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society.