Thomas V. Spates, 76, of Dubuque died Tuesday, February 9, 2016 at his daughter’s home in Des Moines. Visitation will be from 3 to 7 pm Friday at the Egelhof, Siegert & Casper Westview Funeral Home and Crematory, 2659 Kennedy Road where there will be a parish wake service at 7 pm. Mass of Christian Burial will be 10: 30 a.m. Saturday at the Church of the Resurrection. Burial will be in Mt. Olivet Cemtery where military rites will be accorded by the Dubuque Marine Corps League.
Thomas was born May 22, 1939 in Dubuque, son of Vernon and Delores (Specht) Spates. He graduated from Dubuque Senior High School in 1957 and served in the US Army from 1962 to 1964. On July 11, 1964 he married Marilyn B. Meyer at the Church of the Nativity.
He retired from John Deere Dubuque Works in 1999 after 30 years of service. Tom was a staunch Iowa Hawkeyes and Chicago Cubs fan. He was a longtime member of the Church of the Resurrection.
Tom Spates was a man who made many friends during his lifetime. These were friends who enjoyed his friendship and respected him. He still had many friends from childhood and early school years who remained his friends today. He made friends during the many and frequent days he spent at the Boys Club, where he was the Checker Champ, right to recent days prior to his illness when he was in the pool league at the Legion with friends from years back and his many golfing buddies.
For many years during golf season, he played daily with a group of men whom he truly enjoyed spending time with and treasured the days with those special friends. Some of those men also made up the bowling team with Tom. A few years back, he had a weekly poker game with good friends, and more recently played cards most winter mornings with the same friends he has been playing with for many, many years. Tom also especially enjoyed golfing and the friendship of all of the Red Shirts a truly great group of men who golfed together.
Even with family, he was the life of the party and a card game was always more fun if he was playing. As one nephew recently remarked “he was one of the good guys.”
But Tom wasn’t just about fun and games. He was a loving, fun, and kind husband and a caring and proud father. He was his grandkids' greatest fan. As his grandkids would tell you, he was a truly great and special grandfather who would meet you with a smile and a pat on the back as you came out of the dugout, or at the end of a cross-country race, or after a church league basketball game. As much as he could, he was at his grandkids’ sports events, even though he had to travel 200 miles to be there.
Even for his two younger grandbabies, he was a special grandfather. Now the older grandkids are mostly grown, and even when he was first not well, he never lacked the energy or the interest to spend the time to play “catch” or “pitch” or play “legos” with the two little ones born later.
He is survived by his wife, Marilyn Spates of Dubuque; a daughter Julie (Mark) Merfeld of Des Moines and their children, Emily, Matthew, Thomas and Michael; a son, Stephen (Daniel) Spates M.D. of New York City and their children, Thomas "T.J" and Matthew; three siblings, Carol Becker of Dubuque, Kathryn (Frank) Langkamp of Dickeyville, Wisc., and Michael (Linda) Spates of Dubuque, and several nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents and a brother in law, Marvin O. Becker.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Sisters of the Presentation, Dubuque; Dowling Catholic High School, Des Moines; or the Church of the Blessed Sacrament, New York City.
For further information, please visit www.egelhofsiegertcasper.com.