Austin Roland Bates

Austin Roland Bates, 23, Kokomo, passed away Sunday, May 24, 2020, due to an accidental drowning while swimming with friends at Little River Canyon near Centre, Alabama.  He was born April 25, 1997, in Kokomo, the son of Anthony R. Bates and Angela Fay Miller. 

Austin was a 2015 graduate of Eastern High School.  He graduated from Trine University in 2020 and had previously attended Indiana State University. He was currently attending Southeast Lineman Training Center in Trenton, Georgia.   He had played football since he was in kindergarten.  Austin was the quarterback for the Eastern High School football team for 2 1/2 years and also played for Trine University.   He was an MMA fighter with Lee Brothers out of Fort Wayne where he had his first tournament last spring defeating his opponent in 11 seconds. 

Along with his parents, Anthony Bates and Angela Miller, Austin is survived by his sisters, Audrey Bates and Anna Bates; grandparents, Joe and Fay Miller, Roland Bates, and Carol Deaton; aunts and uncles, Bobbi and Mike Hendrix, Bart and Kristy Miller, and Susan Cardwell; and cousins, Justin Cardwell, Courtney Davis, Brooke Armfield, Brandon Armfield, Blake Armfield, Dejá Miller, and Dylan Miller. 

Private services will be held Monday, June 1, 2020, at Shirley & Stout Funeral Home & Crematory, 1315 W. Lincoln Road, Kokomo, with Pastor Charlie Riley officiating.  Entombment will follow in Sunset Memory Garden Cemetery.  Friends are invited to visit with the family from 2-6 pm Sunday at the funeral home.  Memorial contributions may be made in Austin’s memory to the Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital or the Kokomo Humane Society.  Messages of condolence may be left online at www.shirleyandstout.com. 

To send flowers to the family, please visit our floral store.