Weaver Francis Bates

Wickenburg, AZ — Weaver Francis Bates (Bucky), died Thursday, October 26, 2017, three days after celebrating his 90th birthday. He is survived by his son, Lloyd Bates (Austin, TX); his daughter, Wanda Cockey (Trail, OR); his sister, Dorothy Hassett (Florence, OR); five grandchildren; one great-grandchild and many friends. Bucky was born in Knobel, AK on October 23, 1927. He was the son of Lloyd Francis and Wanda Lucille Alexander Bates. He is predeceased by 4 of his siblings, Francine, Glenda, Darlene and Ronald who were all born in Oregon after the family relocated there in the late 1920’s. He served a year and a half in the Merchant Marines on tours bringing troops back from Italy and Japan near the end of World War II. Bucky left Oregon for California to write and record country music. He traveled with his band, Bucky Bates and his Brushy Mountain Boys, performing three days a week in the mornings on KRNR radio in Roseburg, OR with return invitations to the Red Barn in Dorris, CA. He wrote for the Four Star Records label. Most of Bucky’s music was owned by BMI leaving him without record of the songs he wrote during the time of his contract, including Who Winds Your Clock, which found success as a juke box record in towns of the Pacific Northwest and some radio stations in Europe. Bucky also spoke many times to his children of the song Big Blue Diamonds, along with other songs he had written, selling them in bundles for $25 while in a Los Angeles flop house with other musicians “on nickel alley.” These and many other songs were enjoyed by family and friends during family barbeques and public gatherings where Bucky was among some of the favorite entertainers of the local Elk and Moose Lodge members. Bucky had several marriages with the longest lasting 22-years with Dorothy Robertson who gave birth to Bucky’s only two children, Lloyd and Wanda. During his two children’s youth, Bucky supported his family through welding jobs; a trade he went to school to learn after leaving the country music industry. If work concluded in one town, Bucky would find work in other states and even other countries; one being Peru where the family joined him for a 9-month period. Bucky would eventually start his own record label during semi-retirement in 1984 called Desert Morning Records and enjoyed local success in the state of Arizona. Some of the songs recorded under this label written by Bucky included Don’t Mistreat an Angel and Don’t You Know, Can’t You See, Haven’t You Heard. In 1999, Bucky would marry Betty Jane (Hurst) Combs, a widow who became the love of his life. Betty passed in December of 2016 from heart failure. During their years together, Bucky and Betty would enjoy traveling with friends, seeing their children, and exploring parts of the United States. The two would also frequent retirement and nursing homes where Bucky would sing and play guitar and Betty would tap dance to lift the spirits of those confined due to illness. Bucky was known by all for a good joke. He became proficient in telling jokes during his entertaining years and thereafter loved finding new jokes to tell friends and family or the attendant at a gas station. Essentially, anyone he could get to listen long enough would become acquainted with one of Bucky’s favorite jokes. Bucky and Betty eventually relocated from Springfield, OR to Arizona due to the diagnosis of COPD and settled in Wickenburg, AZ to be close to major medical centers in Phoenix. They were married for 13 plus years and enjoyed each other’s companionship until Betty’s death in 2016. They expressed a certainty that each would reunite with family and friends on that day that they would meet again in Heaven. The family takes comfort in knowing that those reunions are finally happening. Bucky requested that his children not hold a memorial or funeral. His remains were cremated according to his wishes the week following his death.