Yates recalled as champion of VSDB cause

Yates' passion was deaf education. He spent the majority of his career at VSDB as a teacher, principal and mentor to the many students who passed through its doors.
Yates also had his own way with words. When named the Virginia Association of the Deaf's Man of the Year in the 1960s, Yates shared his thoughts on honor, a central characteristic that those who knew him said he always displayed in his work with both education and politics.
He was the first director of the Virginia Council for the Deaf, now called the Virginia Department of the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing. In that role, Yates fought for more services for the deaf. Later deaf community advocates would look up to Yates as a model of leadership. read more