Etowah - Jean Young Bates, beloved mother, sister, grandmother, and great-grandmother, passed away peacefully on December 9, 2025 at the age of 86.

Born on January 18, 1939 in Candler, North Carolina to Guy and Blanche Young, she lived a life anchored by faith and her unwavering devotion to the people she loved. Preceded in death by her husband, William Morris Bates, over 30 years ago, she stepped into the role of guiding matriarch, carrying her family forward with an unshakable grace and steadfast heart.

She is survived by her two sisters and their spouses, Verna and Kenneth Murphy, and Wanda and Doyle Garrett; her three sons – Roger Bates and wife Tammy, Michael Bates and wife Victoria, and Stephen Bates; four grandchildren, Becky Corthell and husband Web, Kody Bates and wife Julianna, Kacie Bates, and Jimmy Stewart; as well as three great-grandchildren, Maddox Corthell, Kade Bates, and William Bates.

Jean was a faithful member of Etowah Baptist Church for 61 years and a dedicated employee at Sutherland Insurance Company for 50 years. She was spirited and stubborn in all the best ways. Her legacy lives on in the values she taught us, the strength she modeled, and the love she planted in the generations that follow. She showed us how to live a life rooted in faith and how to meet the world with both strength and kindness.

Funeral services will be held 2pm, Saturday, December 13, 2025 at Moody-Connolly Funeral Home in Brevard, NC. The family will receive friends beginning at 12:30pm- 2pm. Burial will be in Blue Ridge Gardens of Memory following the service.

Online condolences may be left at www.moodyconnollyfuneralhome.com

Moody Connolly Funeral Home are caring for the family.