Donald J. Bates, O.S.A. (1934-2023)

Rev. Donald J. Bates, O.S.A., entered eternal life on December 31, 2023, two days before his 90th birthday.

Donald James Bates was born on January 2, 1934, in Marietta, Ohio, to Bernard R. and Ursula Mary (Kunitzer) Bates. He was baptized on January 21, 1934, at St. Mary Church in Marietta. He received the Sacrament of Confirmation on October 17, 1943, at St. John Vianney Church in Flint, Michigan.

Donald began his elementary education at St. Mary School in Marietta. After third grade, he transferred to the Flint Public Schools, where he studied for three years. He completed his seventh and eighth grade studies at St. Matthew School in Flint. He began his secondary education at St. Monica’s Minor Seminary in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, in 1948. When the minor seminary program relocated to St. Augustine Seminary in Holland, Michigan, Donald completed his high school education there, earning his diploma in 1952.

Donald was received into the Augustinian Novitiate on September 9, 1952. He professed temporary vows on September 10, 1953, and solemn (permanent) vows on September 10, 1956.

He earned a B.A. in Philosophy from Villanova University in Villanova, Pennsylvania, in 1957. He then pursued theological studies at Augustinian College in Washington, D.C. He was ordained a priest on June 8, 1960.

Father Bates earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from Catholic University in Washington, D.C., in 1963, and an M.A. in Humanities from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, in 1971.

He was assigned as a teacher to Mendel Catholic High School in Chicago in 1961. He was then assigned to teach at Austin Catholic High School in Detroit in 1964. He joined the faculty of Tolentine College in Olympia Fields, Illinois, in 1970.

When Tolentine College closed in 1973, Father Bates was part of a group of friars that planned and inaugurated Tolentine Center in the former college buildings. Tolentine Center offered a variety of retreat, personal growth, and adult education programs. Father Bates served on the staff of Tolentine Center until it closed in 1981.

Father Bates participated in a program of Clinical Pastoral Education in 1980 at Ypsilanti Regional Psychiatric Hospital in Ypsilanti, Michigan. He served as Chaplain at Little Company of Mary Hospital in Chicago in 1982-1983 and then at St. James Hospital in Chicago Heights in 1984-1985. He completed a year of residency of Clinical Pastoral Education in 1985-1986 at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Illinois, after which he became a Chaplain at Christ Hospital.

Beginning in 1984, Father Bates resided at Austin Friary, first in its former Olympia Fields location, and then in its new location in Matteson, Illinois. In 2001, he was named Chaplain at Marian Village, a retirement community in Homer Glen, Illinois. While continuing to reside at Austin Friary, Father Bates served as Director of the Care Program for Senior Friars, which was located at Saint Nicholas of Tolentine Monastery in Olympia Fields, Illinois, from 2005-2006.

Father Bates was assigned in 2006 as Parochial Vicar at St. Jude Parish in New Lenox, Illinois. He became semi-retired in 2012 and continued to reside in the Augustinian community at St. Jude.

Due to declining health, in 2016 Father Bates was assigned to Bl. Stephen Bellesini Friary, Crown Point, Indiana.

On December 28, 2023, Father Bates was put on hospice care at St. Anthony Home. He passed away peacefully on the morning of December 31, 2023.

Father Bates will be remembered for his creative artistic ministries, the programs for spirituality he developed, and his outreach to people in need. He has produced numerous paintings and sculptures, including a remarkable set of illustrations on themes in the Confessions of St. Augustine.

He is buried in the Augustinian plot at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Alsip, IL.

Memorial gifts may be made to: The Midwest Augustinians, 10161 S Longwood Dr, Chicago, IL 60643-2032 or via our Online Giving Page.