Obituary of James Roscoe Yates

Funeral services for James "JR" Yates, 89, of Lovington, NM will be held on Wednesday, October 17, 2018 at 3:00 pm at Kirby-Smith- Rogers Chapel with Randy Duncan officiating. Burial will follow at Lovington Cemetery. Mr. Yates was born on December 8, 1928 in Coleman County, TX to James Roscoe and Joda (Mitchell) Yates and passed away peacefully on Sunday, October 14, 2018. He graduated from Eunice High School in 1947 and on July 17, 1950 he married his wife of 68 years, Wanda McComas Yates. They moved to Lovington in 1955 where he worked as a home builder for several years and played an instrumental role in bringing the FHA/VA mortgage program to Southeastern New Mexico before eventually retiring from Texaco after 20 years. He was an avid sports fan. He enjoyed watching all sports especially the ones involving his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and local teams. He never met a stranger and he enjoyed talking with and meeting new people. Fishing and hunting were one of his passions and some of his best memories were fishing on the Mississippi River and elk hunting in Colorado with his family and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents: Roscoe and Joda Yates; sister: Lucille Martin and brother: Mitchell Yates; son-in-law: Ray Morgan and great-grandson Dillyn Terry Sharpe. Surviving him is his wife: Wanda; three children: Jimmy and wife Cheryl Yates of Farmington, NM, Jason and wife Kindall Yates of Denton, TX and Jody Yates Morgan of Lovington; nine grandchildren; thirteen great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren. Visitation will be held on Wednesday from 1:00 till service time at 3:00 pm at the funeral home.