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Rachel S. Bates, 58, of Sherburne, passed away Thursday, December 14, 2017 at the New York State Veterans Home in Oxford.
She was born December 31, 1958 in Norwich, a daughter of the late Gerald and Lois Eastman Nelson. She was a graduate of Sherburne-Earlville High School and SUNY, Morrisville, receiving an AS degree in Computer Systems Technology. Rachel was employed by the Champion Co. in Norwich. She attended religious services at the New York State Veterans Home and was a member of the Multiple Sclerosis Society. Rachel had a wonderful sense of humor and was very artistic. If you wanted her attention, all you had to do was talk about horses. She loved horses and they were a very important part of her life.
Surviving are her daughter and son-in-law, Deinah and Cole Samsel of Oxford; son and daughter-in-law, Benjamin and Samantha Bates of Henderson, TN; sisters and brothers-in-law, Doris Anne and Louis Wilbur, Geraldine and Richard Cosens, Nola Sutherland, all of Sherburne; Karen Powers and Jerry Fuller of AZ; Grace MaCumber of Guilford; brothers and sisters-in-law, Gene and Gail Nelson, Philip and Norena Nelson, Michael and Mira Nelson, all of Smyrna; her grandchildren, Paige Wallace, Rebel Samsel, Haeven and Aevery Bates, Jessica and Joshua Martin, and many nieces, nephews and cousins. She was predeceased by an infant son, Nathaniel Bates and two brothers, Allen and David Nelson.
Funeral services will be held at 1pm Tuesday, December 19, 2017 at the Burgess & Tedesco Funeral Home, 10 S. Main St., Sherburne, followed by interment in the Willcox Cemetery, Town of Smyrna.
Friends are invited and may call at the funeral home on Monday from 5-7pm.
Contributions in Rachel’s memory may be made to the Multiple Sclerosis Society, 1000 Elmwood Avenue, Suite 900, Rochester, NY 14620.

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