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Submitted: 6/24/15 • Approved: 6/25/15 • Last Updated: 3/25/18 • R79409-G0-S3
BRIGADIER GENERAL United States Air Force
World War II
Korea
Vietnam
January 17, 1923 - March 18, 2009
Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster
Bronze Star Medal
Bate, Roger Redmond, Brigadier General (USAF Ret.) General Roger Bate passed away in his sleep, surrounded by family members, on Wednesday, March 18, 2009, in McKinney, Texas. General Bate was a consultant with the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie Mellon University. Born January 17, 1923, in Denver, Colorado, General Bate was a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point (1947). He was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to Magdellan College at Oxford University in England where he received a degree in Physics. He served with the US Army Corps of Engineers during the Korean War and was awarded the Bronze Star. In 1959, Bate was assigned to the U.S. Air Force Academy. While there, he was re-commissioned in the US Air Force, co-authored what has become a classic text, Fundamentals of Astrodynamics, and expanded the department to include the study of the emerging field of computer science. In 1966, he earned his PhD in control systems from Stanford University. He was the first Permanent Professor in the Astronautics Department, and later became Vice Dean of the Air Force Academy. Upon his retirement from the Air Force in 1973, he joined Texas Instruments where he eventually became Chief Computer Scientist. After retiring from Texas Instruments in 1991, he continued his interest in integrated systems development by joining SEI. While at SEI, General Bate was the Chief Architect of the Capability Maturity Model Integration suite of products. Bate was a fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), a fellow of the Society for Design and Process Science, and a Texas Instruments Fellow. He played the piano and loved music. He was predeceased by Jeannette Hockman Bate, his wife of 39 years, and daughter Anne Stevens Bate. He is survived by his loving wife of 20 years, Madeline Kunkel Bate of Frisco, TX; his 2 bothers, Robert Bate of Richardson, TX and Richard Bate of Colorado; his 8 children, Kathryn Aberle, Baltimore, Maryland; Donald Bate of Plano; Gordon Bate, Colorado Springs; Carol Bate, Dallas; Constance Wegmann, Beaufort, SC; Kristin Ferguson, McKinney; Suzanne Guthrie, Frisco; and Michael Kunkel, Kyoto, Japan. He is also survived by 11 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren, as well as 2 more great-grandchildren anticipated this Spring, Funeral services are scheduled for 2 pm, Monday, March 23, at Christ Church Plano, 4550 Legacy Dr., Plano, TX followed by the burial at Restland Memorial Gardens, 9220 Restland Rd, Dallas, Texas. Visitation will be on Sunday, March 22, from 6 - 8 pm at Ted Dickey West Funeral Home, 8011 Frankford Rd, Dallas. Donations may be made to the American Red Cross, Faith Presbyterian Hospice of Irving, Texas, or Dallas Life Ministries.
Published in Dallas Morning News on Mar. 22, 2009
Contributed on 6/24/15 by gasirek
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Record #: 79409