Obituary of Avilla Bates

Avilla Brooks Bates, daughter of Percy Porter Hinckley and Katherine Avilla Brooks and stepdaughter to Kib Brooks. Born November 16, 1920 in Meriden, Connecticut and passed away peacefully at home in San Francisco, California, August 1, 2007 at age 86 years. She attended Monte Casino High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma and graduated from Arlington Hall Girl's School in Arlington, Virginia. During this time she was chosen to be the Queen at the Dartmouth Carnival at Dartmouth College in Hanover, Vermont. She later married John "Sonny" McFarlin in Tulsa, Oklahoma and had two daughters Katherine Heather Perron of San Antonio, Texas and Laurie McFarlin of San Francisco, California. After moving to San Antonio, Texas in 1947 she was a member of the San Antonio Junior League and president of the Laurel Heights Garden Club. In 1967 she returned to Tulsa, Oklahoma and married John "Jack" W. Bates Jr, former chairman and CEO of Reading and Bates Offshore Drilling Company. They shared a full rich life of travel and adventure. She is survived by her two daughters and two stepdaughters Belinda Bates Posey of Tulsa, Oklahoma and Melanie Bates Wolkov of Colorado Springs, Colorado and a large loving extended family who will always remember her as a most beautiful, kind, loving woman. A private family service will be held at Memorial Park Cemetry, Tulsa, Oklahoma.