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Friends Remember Fatal Arson Victim

Friends Remember Fatal Arson Victim - Wednesday, February 20, 2008 at 4:40PM EST

Reported by: Laurie Monteforte
Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 @04:40pm EST
MARSHALLS CREEK, MONROE COUNT- When neighbors drive by this burned shell of a home in Marshalls Creek they think back on all the laughter they've shared there. Laughter that faded away when someone set the house on fire and killed the man who lived there for years.

Jack Bates was 81.

"He always wanted to know what he could do for you, not what you could do for him, but what he could do for you," said Bate's neighbor and friend Tom Bonser.

Police said James Miller admitted he set a fire at Bate's house earlier this month because he was upset and depressed. Miller was working as a caretaker for Bates, when police say he lit a towel on fire and threw that towel into a closet.

"How can this happen? Especially to an individual like Jack, you know he's 80 something, and such a nice individual," said neighbor and friend John Hoback.

Bates was well known in Monroe County. He once served as the head of the Chamber of Commerce. He also worked as an aerospace scientist - and spent 24 years in the Air Force.

Friends and neighbors shared memories of fishing with Bates and talking politics on his porch. They called him a classic gentleman. Bonser explained, "If you ever knew Jack he could be half limping and there's no way in the world you're ever going to open your car door, not with Jack there."

Hoback visited Bates the night before he died. He couldn't stay long so after a short chat he spoke the last words he would ever say to his friend, "I'll see you either tomorrow or the next day."

But because someone set a fire John Hoback will never get that chance to see his friend again - and neither will anyone else.

A memorial service for Bates is scheduled from 10-11 a.m Thursday at Lanterman and Allen funeral home in East Stroudsburg.
 


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