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Our dedicated staff members are here to provide support, compassion, and information to help you through your journey of grief and the celebration of your loved one’s life.
Robert L. "Robby" Bates, CFSP, CCO, owner of Bates Family Funeral Home in De Kalb, Texas, is past president of the National Funeral Directors Association.
A Certified Funeral Service Professional, Robby graduated from the Dallas Institute of Mortuary Science and received his BS from Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches, Texas, and a BBA and MBA from East Texas State University-Texarkana. A long-time member of the Texas Funeral Directors Association, Robby has served his state association as president and has been an active chairman and member on many state committees.
After serving as the 2002-03 president of the Texas Funeral Directors Association, Robby went on to serve as the Texas state representative to the NFDA Policy Board.
Robby has taken on many roles with NFDA, including serving on several committees, such as Spokesperson, Operations, Audit and Budget. He served as an inaugural member of NFDA's Professional Conduct Committee. Robby has served as an at-large representative, secretary, treasurer, president-elect and president on NFDA's Executive Board.
Robb is a 1997 graduate of De Kalb High School. In 2002, he began working at a 4th generation family owned Funeral Home in Ennis, Texas while attending mortuary school. He graduated from the Dallas Institute of Funeral Service in 2004 and became the 3rd generation licensed Funeral Director and Embalmer in the Bates family. In 2009, he moved home to De Kalb to join his father, Robby Bates in opening Bates Family Funeral Home. Robb is licensed with the Texas Dept of Insurance as a Pre-Need agent, a member of the Texas Funeral Director's Association and the National Funeral Director's Association. Robb and his wife, Amanda live in De Kalb and have a daughter, Zadie Kaye Bates and a son, Jack Bates.
Angee was born and raised in Benton, Arkansas, where she graduated from Central Arkansas Christian School in 1996. She attended the University of Central Arkansas. She has over 15 years experience with life insurance, having worked for State Farm in New Boston, Texas from 2008 to 2015 before continuing to expand her life insurance claim knowledge with us. Angee and her husband, Ken, live in Texarkana, Texas. They have three children, Sadie Brook Coleman, Kendall Johnson, and Kolton Johnson.
