David Lee Yates, 81, of Nipomo, CA passed away March 27, 2025. He was born on March 11, 1944, in Ottawa, KS, a small town Southwest of Kansas City. He was raised on a 500-acre dairy farm with his parents, one brother and 2 sisters. David, at age 6 and his brother Frank, age 7, were assigned farm duties by their father, Wilbur. They helped with the milking, feeding and caring for the crops which even included driving tractors. They mainly grew crops such as corn, milo, soybeans and alfalfa hay to feed the cows. David attended Ottawa High School and was a member of FFA in grades 9-12 and was Secretary his junior year.
He attended Kansas State University and was a member of Alpha Tau Alpha-honorary Agricultural Education Society. After receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture in 1967, he earned a teaching credential at Paola, KS where he taught ag mechanics until 1973. He received his Master of Science degree from Kansas State University in the summer of 1972. He married Karen Sue Snyder, also of Ottawa, in 1971 who was attending the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State. He was a member of the Army National Guard from 1967-1973.
In the fall of 1973, he and his wife moved to Fresno and lived there until his retirement in 2010. He was in charge of the agricultural mechanics at Madera High School. His students produced equipment for parks and rebuilt and repaired equipment for area farmers. His students excelled in building agricultural trailers, and he helped other schools design their welding shops for the best use of space and equipment.
David was named the outstanding state Young Farmers adviser in 1982, 1984 and 1985. In 1988, David became the Madera High School ag department chairman and was also named Teacher of the Year by a committee of students and teachers. The principal at the time said that David had provided excellent leadership and the superintendent said that the work that had been done under Yates was “just extraordinary.” Under his leadership, the ag farm was extensively cleaned up with the help of local farmers and ag boosters and a new ag department curriculum was also developed. He was also instrumental in planning and applying for funding for a 40-acre district ag magnet school, the first of its kind which would be built at the new high school. Besides teaching students at the high school, he taught adult welding classes once a week at night. He also gave special welding classes to the employs of various companies in the area.
In 2001, David was selected by the California Agriculture Teachers Association to receive the State Teacher of Excellence Award out of 900 ag teachers in California. It had been 33 years since a Madera High ag teacher had received the award.
After retiring from Madera High school in 2003, he taught a welding class at Fresno State for 5 years before moving to Nipomo, CA.
In his spare time, he enjoyed taking his daughter to horse shows to show her Arabian horses. In his single years, he enjoyed drag racing his Chevy 2, Bossanova 2.
David was preceded in death by his father, Wilbur and mother Letha, and is survived by his wife, Karen, Nipomo, CA, daughter Jaima, and grandchildren Anya 9, and Kian10, Calabasas,CA his older brother, Frank Yates, Ottawa KS, and his younger sisters, Sally Kramer, Ottawa KS, and Sandra Brooks, Overland Park, KS.
