Obituary of Bobby Joe Yates

Funeral services for Bobby Joe Yates are scheduled for 10 AM Saturday, December 27, 2025, in the chapel of Golden Funeral Home, with Bro. Britt Dupree officiating. Interment will follow in Christ Church Cemetery. The family will receive friends Saturday, prior to the service, beginning at 9 AM. Mr. Yates, a resident of Bastrop, LA, passed away Tuesday, December 23, 2025, at the age of ninety-one. He retired from International Paper Company as an electrician after thirty-eight years of service and also owned and operated his own company, Yates Electrical. Mr. Yates was a United States Marine, having served in Okanawa, Japan. He was a current member of Central Missionary Baptist Church, and former member of sixty-two years of Riverside Baptist Church, having served there as the Adult Men’s Sunday School teacher and Sunday School Director. Mr. Yates loved his family dearly and enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren. He also enjoyed reading and working all types of puzzles. Mr. Yates will be remembered for having a generous heart and helping many people with their electrical issues at no charge. He is survived by his wife of sixty-four years, Edna Royal Yates; daughter, Vicki Yates; son, William Todd Yates, and wife Amy; grandchildren, Jeffrey Alexander Simmons, and wife Francesca Marie’ Simmons, Victoria Leigh Simmons, Annabelle Elizabeth Aisling Yates, Matthew Garrison Simmons, and wife Savannah Brooke Simmons, Wilson Davis Littlejohn Yates; and one great-granddaughter, Alexandra Marie Simmons. Mr. Yates is preceded in death by his parents, Jerome and Opal Yates; brother, Dudley Vernon Yates; and sister, Carolyn Ann Yates Bryant. Serving as pallbearers will be Alex Simmons, Matt Simmons, Wilson Yates, Jerry Davis, Terry Davis, and Dana Simmons. Honorary pallbearers will be the Social Security Hounds Sunday School Class of Central Missionary Baptist Church. The family would like to give a special thank you to Premier Hospice for their loving care.