Billy C. Bates, 84, of Coahoma, met his Lord and Savior Sunday, February 7, 2016 in Clifton, Texas . Funeral services will be held at 2:00 PM Friday, February 12, 2016 at Coahoma Methodist Church with Raul Garcia officiating. Interment will follow at the Coahoma Cemetery.The family will receive friends from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM Thursday evening at the Nalley-Pickle & Welch Funeral Home.Billy was born May 19, 1931 in Big Spring. He graduated from Coahoma High School and then attended Texas Tech University. Billy served in the United States Navy as a Corpsman from 1951 to 1955. It was in the Navy that he met Nellie Ruth Backlin in Barstow, California. They were married August 17, 1953. They were stationed in Yakuska, Japan the first year of marriage. They moved back to Howard county and Billy farmed cotton. He later was hired on at Cosden for American Petrofina where he retired.He was a member of the Staked Plains Lodge #598 A.F. and A.M. He was a lifelong member of the Coahoma Methodist Church. He was also a lay pastor for the Methodist Church in Garden City, Westbrook and North Birdwell Lane Methodist Churches.Billy recently moved to Clifton, Texas to be close to his daughter, Carla Quinters; granddaughter, Nora Thompson and great granddaughter, Emma Thompson all of Valley Mills, Texas.Billy was preceded in death by his wife; his parents, Carl and Viola Bates and his grandmother, Mattie Ellen Duncan.The family requests memorial be made to the Coahoma First United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 50, Coahoma, Texas 79511.Arrangements under the direction of Nalley-Pickle & Welch Funeral Home & Crematory of Big Spring. Online condolences may be made at: www.npwelch.com ,
