Della Marie Haddy Bates, 93, of Winchester passed away on Saturday, December 10, 2016. She was born on March 13, 1923 in Jackson, MN to Harold Joseph and Maybelle Marie (Plum) Haddy. She spent her youth on a farm in Neponset, IL with her mother and beloved stepfather Roy Moore. At Neponset High School, Della excelled in all areas – social and academic. She was valedictorian of her graduating class, was the softball team’s first baseman, and won state singing honors.

Although Della was a farm girl from the Midwest, she spent much of her life as the proud patriotic wife of an US Air Force officer living across the country. She and her husband of 56
years, Vergil H. Bates, who pre-deceased her, made life-long friends wherever they were stationed. Della was fully engaged in the US Air Force life participating in and managing Officers’ Wives’ Clubs, garden clubs, and hospital auxiliaries. She organized activities that military families need on Air Force bases, such as teaching Sunday school, arranging PTA events, and being a den and troop mother in the Boy and Girl Scouts of America.

Retiring from military life, Della and Vergil spent 20 years on the Angus beef farm they created in White Post, Va. She continued her participatory life belonging to the Virginia Garden Club and engaging in activities associated with Braddock Street United Methodist Church. She moved to Winchester in 1995 and to Westminster Canterbury in 2005.

She was a cancer survivor and participated in the Walk for Cancer for many years.

Della was an accomplished and devoted bridge player. She began playing bridge in the early 1940’s while her husband was learning to fly, continued playing throughout her life, and excelled
in this “mind sport”. She enjoyed all aspects of the game, and, although she was quite competitive, she always made new friends at the bridge table.

She is survived by her children Christopher Bates and his wife Audrey of White Post, VA, Jeffrey Bates and his wife Lynette of Marshall, VA, and Deborah Bates and her partner Katharine Bliss of Ellicott City, MD; her 11 grandchildren; and 9 great-grandchildren.

Memorial donations can be made to: Salvation Army of Winchester, PO Box 2745, Winchester, VA 22604 or Braddock Street United Methodist Church, 115 Wolfe St., Winchester. VA 22601-2311.

A viewing will be held at Omps Funeral Home in Winchester, VA at 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 15, 2016. The funeral service will be held at Braddock Street United Methodist Church at 10:00 am on Friday, December 16, 2016. Interment will be at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.