William Douglas Bates

Funeral service for William Douglas Bates, 86, of Moss Bluff, Louisiana will be held Saturday, October 3rd, 2026 at 2:00pm at Johnson Funeral Home of Moss Bluff. Officiating will be Rev. Glenn George. Visitation will be held from 12:00pm until the start of the service.

A graveside service and burial will be held on Monday, October 5th, 2026 at 1:00pm at New Ebenezer Cemetery, located across the highway from New Ebenezer Baptist Church, 1860 LA-153, Castor, Louisiana. A reception will be held immediately afterwards at the church until 5:00pm.

William was born September 26, 1940, to L.J. and Effie Bates of Castor, Louisiana. He died peacefully at home in Moss Bluff on Wednesday, September 30, 2026 with his family at his side. William was a 1958 graduate of Castor High School, where he was voted Mr. CHS and Sr. Class President. He attended Industrial Education classes at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches after high school. He worked briefly at First National Bank in Shreveport prior to moving to the Lake Charles area. William married the former Geneva Warren of Castor on December 22, 1961, sharing 58 years together. He worked 43 years for Gulf States Utilities (now Entergy) in various roles, such as the survey crew, and retired in 2005 as Sr. Right Away Representative in the Lake Charles office. William spent many weeks away from home scouting out damage from hurricanes and tropical storms for linemen working on power restoration along the Gulf Coast.

William was a loving and devoted husband and a kind and gentle father that was blessed with four daughters, nine grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. He helped Geneva face several life-threatening conditions during their time together, taking care of everything that goes along with that, without complaint. He enjoyed spending time with his family, especially his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He and Geneva would hide hundreds of Easter eggs in their yard every year, and he loved watching them run around filling their baskets. He would also instigate Christmas wrapping paper wars with them after the presents were opened.

William had a great sense of humor and enjoyed joking with people. He loved his Dallas Cowboys, gardening, reading Louis Lamour westerns, and doing puzzles in the newspaper. He could fix anything, which was a big help to his daughters when they needed something done. His lifelong love of pets culminated with the 3 cats he took in to help fill the void left by his wife’s passing.

Back in May of this year, William was able to attend his 68th class reunion in Castor, with help from his daughters. He really enjoyed seeing and interacting with his fellow classmates.

William is preceded in death by his wife, Geneva Warren Bates; his parents L.J. and Effie Bates of Castor; and brothers Wayne Bates of Jena and Jerry Bates of Hot Springs, Arkansas.

William is survived by his sister, Anna Bennett (Ralph) of Pineville; daughters, Andrea West (Keith) of Lake Charles, Christy Gaspard (Ragan) of Lake Charles, Jill Liptak of Lake Charles and Wendy Farmer (Buck) of Lake Charles; grandchildren, Kaci West Lindsay (Nick) of Tyler, Texas, Kileigh West Ryan (Jordon) of Beaumont, Texas, Korinne “Kori” West of Denton, Texas, Katelyn "Katey" Driskill of Lake Charles, Michael Driskill of Rockville, Maryland, Justin Liptak (Abigail) of Lake Charles, Dylan Cody Liptak of Lake Charles, Eric Farmer of Lake Charles, and Jessica Leccese of Thibodeaux; great grandchildren, Evelyn Lindsay, Haley Marulli, Nathanael Lindsay and Gabriel Marulli; and numerous nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made in his name to the New Ebenezer Cemetery Fund, Pastor of the Church is Austin Hand 1860 LA-153, Castor, Louisiana, 71016, phone (318) 663-2312; or the First Baptist Church of Gillis, 678 Topsy Road, Lake Charles, Louisiana 70611, phone (337) 794-2597.