Charles Thomas "C.T." Yates

A memorial service for Charles Thomas "C.T." Yates, 91, will be held at 2 p.m. Monday, Sept. 9 at Burleson First Baptist Church with Dr. Ronny Marriott, pastor of Richardson First Baptist Church, officiating.
Born on April 2, 1933, he passed peacefully on August 31, 2024.
A U.S. Army veteran, he was a 1951 graduate of Burleson, TX, High School. He retired after a career of more than 30 years with Equifax (formerly Retail Credit Company). His employment began in Fort Worth in 1954, with later assignments in Amarillo from 1967-1973, then to Tulsa, OK, before retirement in 1989.
An active member of Burleson First Baptist Church, he was a "never-met-a-stranger" type of man, known for what one friend describing as an incurable optimist with an ever-present Christian demeanor and unmistakable generous spirit. He genuinely loved his church and his family, as well as residents and staff at Wilshire Senior Living, where he and his wife, Christene, had resided for several months.
In retirement, he enjoyed travelling, shopping, working in the yard and caring for all kinds of cacti and succulents, including the development of an intricate irrigation system.
He is survived by his wife, Christene Dunn Yates of Burleson. His children, all of Tulsa, include Cynthia Suttle, Connie and Mike Woods, Tom Yates and Chuck Daves, and a stepson, Terry Dunn of Lake Fork. (He and his Christene, also widowed, were school classmates who married eight years ago.)
Grandchildren include Melinda and Daniel Bennett, Kyle Jones and Carah Counts and Sara Woods and Jared Rodriguez, all of Tulsa; Scott and Kelsey Suttle, Edmond, OK; and Chad and Katie Woods of Charleston, SC. Great grandchildren are Emery, Morgan and Mia Bennett, Weston Counts, and Grant Woods, with another on the way. Also surviving are two great-great grandchildren, Ava and Alana Ramos, as well as numerous nephews, nieces and cousins.
Preceding him in death were his parents, William D. and Irene Yates; Annie Sue Yates, his wife of 47 years who died in 1999; his sister, Dorothy Gilley, Fort Worth; brother, W. D. Yates, Houston, and son-in-law, Dee Suttle.