Frank Bates

Frank Bates, age 84 passed away Wednesday, March 29, 2023 in Gainesville. He was born on December 14, 1938, in Los Angeles, California, to Francis and Vera Bates. He attended elementary and high school in Los Angeles and Sherman Oaks, California, then Stanford University, receiving a BSEE in electrical engineering in 1962. In 1949, at the age of 11, he received his amateur radio operator’s license, and supported his hobby with money earned by repairing neighbors’ radios and television sets. At Stanford, in addition to his academic pursuits, he served in the fire department, specializing in rescue operations, including first aid and Jaws of Life. He later took a year off to work in construction of the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) station in Alaska. After graduating from Stanford, he joined the university’s Computation Center, where he developed computer programs to assist researchers in a variety of disciplines. He co-authored a textbook on the then-popular programing language PL/I, which was adopted by over 400 universities worldwide. This was followed by a series of positions in Silicon Valley, some of which entailed global travel, which in turn sparked his interest in the larger world. That interest led him to join the U.S. Foreign Service (State Department) as a security engineering officer with assignments mostly in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Russia. He designed and implemented systems for intrusion detection, access control, and surveillance as well as discovery and removal of clandestine listening devices at U.S. diplomatic posts in his regions. Workload permitting, he enjoyed making friends among the local populace and exploring with them the back street of Istanbul, Damascus, the Old City of Jerusalem, and Prague, among others. In 1990, while posted to Turkey, he met and married Hikmet Emir, a highly valued employee of the U.S. embassy in Ankara. He and Hikmet resided in Washington D.C. 1990–1994, in Russia 1994-1997, and in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, 1997-2000, where he headed the State Department’s technical security program in the Western Hemisphere. His final assignment was to Washington, as Chief of the Security Engineering and Computer Security Division at the Diplomatic Security Training Center. He retired in 2003, as required by law at age 65, and relocated with Hikmet to Oak Hammock at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Frank is survived by his wife, Hikmet; daughters, Robin Bates- Pualuan (Omar) and Mary Lyndel Bates (Robert); sister, Mary Tiesen; and grandsons, Calvin and Miles Pualuan; niece, Kim Tiesen. Interment will be at Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery, Gainesville, FL. Private services will be held.

Frank Bates

December 14, 1938 - March 29, 2023