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Robert (Bob) Paul DeBates, 73, Colorado Springs, Colo., died Thursday, Sept. 22 at Penrose Hospital in Colorado Springs, Colo.
An interment ceremony will be held at Pikes Peak National Cemetery on Monday, Oct. 17 at 10 a.m., followed by an open house celebration of life at the DeBates residence in Colorado Springs.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations directed to Colorado Springs Fire Department Station 18 or Porter Adventist Hospitality House in Denver, Colo.
Bob was born to Charles (Swede) and Bonita (Bonnie) DeBates in Pipestone on Feb. 7, 1949.
He married Barbara Prinsen at St. Leo Catholic Church in Pipestone on Sept. 5, 1969. They celebrated their 53rd wedding anniversary this fall.
Bob graduated from SDSU in Brookings, S.D. in1971 with a bachelor’s degree in math, whereupon he accepted commission as a lieutenant in the Air Force, who sent him to earn a second degree in meteorology at the University of Utah. He separated from service as a captain after nearly 10 years.
In 1982, Bob and Barb moved to Russell so their children could grow up closer to their grandparents in Pipestone. During this time he worked as a computer programmer for Schwan’s of Marshall.
Bob and Barb relocated to Colorado Springs by way of Omaha in 1996.
He is survived by his wife, Barb; three children Amy (Curt Fryman), Cicero, Ind., Doug, Colorado Springs and Robin (Steve Maluk), Philadelphia; siblings, Carol McKenney, Sioux Falls, SD., John Arthur, Denver, Colo., and Charles “Chuck” DeBates, Sioux City, Iowa; six grandchildren and several nephews and nieces.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Swede and Bonnie, Pipestone; parents-in-law Elmer and Nyla Prinsen, Pipestone; sister-in-law Peggy Herges, Scotland, S.D. and his grandson, Ian Paul DeBates, Colorado Springs.
