Agnes Canterbury Bates, 79, of 523 Brentwood Drive, died, Monday, November 24, 2008 at Lewis Ð Gale Medical Center in Salem.

She was born May 12, 1929 at Union, West Virginia, a daughter of the late Cecil Cockett Canterbury and Alfa Berte Martin Canterbury.

Mrs. Bates was employed by Alleghany County School System for a number of years. She was a member of Covington Baptist Church.

In addition to her parents, Mrs. Bates was preceded in death by her husband, Charles C. Bates in 1995; a grandson, David L. Fridley; and also a brother, Claude Canterbury.

Surviving are three daughters, Phyllis Fridley and her husband Richard; Jackie Damiano and her husband, Peter and Patricia Armentrout and her husband, Bill, all of Covington; four sons, Charles W. Bates and his wife, Diane of Augusta, GA; C. Wayne Bates and his wife, Candy, of Covington and Henry L. Bates and his wife, Martha, of Chesapeake; eleven grandchildren; 10 great grandchildren; one sister, Isabelle Canterbury of Union, WV; and one brother, Dennis Canterbury of Union, WV; and several nieces and nephews.

The funeral service will be held 1:00 p.m. Saturday, November 29, 2008 in Arritt Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Ken Mason officiating.

The interment will be made in Cedar Hill Cemetery.

Friends may pay their respects at the Arritt Funeral Home. The family will receive their friends Friday evening from 7:00 until 8:30 p.m. at the funeral home.

Memorial donations in Mrs. Bates may be made to the American Heart Association, in care of Joy Brackman-Weeks, 2212 Dressler Drive, Covington, VA 24426.