Walter D. Poates' Obituary
Walter Dan Poates was born in Clinton, Mississippi, the second son of five to Francis and Louella Poates.
Walter grew up in Clinton leaving only when he and his brother joined the military at age 19. Dan served in the army for 2 years. He was a SGT during the Korean War. After being discharged, he attended Mississippi college in Clinton when he met his future wife, Sue. After graduating with a Bachelor in Math, his math teacher told him about the new “Computer”. This is where his love began. He moved to Forth Worth for a job at Convair as a computer programmer.
His friends teased that his first love was computers and his second love was Sue.
Dan and Sue got married in November of 1956. Later, they moved to Houston when he took a job at CEIR. He took a job working for what we now know as NASA. He worked as a programmer and worked his way up to management. He started teaching Sunday school classes and continued teaching for 57 years. He also served as a deacon at Easthaven Baptist Church. Finally, after 35 years he retired from NASA. He and Sue spent their retired years traveling with their son Joe and grandkids.
He is survived by his wife of 69 years, his children Walter Jr., Patsy Thomas, and Joe Austin and grandkids Trace and Kelsey Thomas and sister Evelyn Zarlow.
He is preceded in death by his parents Joe Francis and Louella Poates, his siblings Jean Singletary, Joe Jr., John Thomas Poates.
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