David Bates

  David and his wife Ellen were just a pleasure to be around.  I became reacquainted with David after shooting with his son Randy for a few years.  Fortunately they shot The Grand American Trap Shoot together in Sparta, Illinois last year.  David was always a helpful guy and I was fortunate to have been around him a bit. Recently David ran the Trainer Hale Shooting Supply Store at National Shooting Complex during the World Skeet Championships, and I really enjoyed out conversations last week.  After closing their store on Fri afternoon, David and his wife were out for dinner with friends, and in good spirits.  After dinner he sat in "his chair" and Ellen discovered he had passed later that evening.

  David was very helpful, well respected and highly thought of.  He will be missed in the Shooting Community.