Robert L. LeCates, 84

SEAFORD - Retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Robert L. LeCates, formerly of Seaford, died Monday, Dec. 18, 2006, in Anchorage Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Salisbury, Md. He was 84.

Mr. LeCates was born in Seaford, son of the late Arthur McKinley and Rosella Lesley LeCates.

He was a 1940 graduate of Seaford High School.

Mr. LeCates was a World War II and Korean War veteran, having flown 25 missions over Europe in World War II. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross twice, the Air Medal with three clusters and the European Theater and Southwest Pacific Campaign ribbons. He retired after 21 years of service.

He later worked as a foreman for the former Hastings and Eskridge Co., Seaford.

Mr. LeCates was a member of Virgil Wilson Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4961, Seaford.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Helen Lofton LeCates, in 2001; his daughter, Terry L. McCarthy, in 2005; and a sister, Virginia Emory, in 1997.

He is survived by a granddaughter, Beth Anthony of Wilmington; a brother, Charles Burton LeCates of Piedmont, S.C.; a sister, Louise Zeallor of Woodlands, Texas; and a son-in-law, Thomas J. McCarthy of Tyaskin, Md.

Graveside services will be 11 a.m. Wednesday in Odd Fellows Cemetery, Seaford.

Instead of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions to The Home of the Brave, 6632 Sharps Road, Milford, DE 19963.

Arrangements by Watson-Yates Funeral Home, Seaford.