Peggy Scates Obituary

Peggy Lynn Wyrick Scates was born July 22, 1933 in Sperry, Oklahoma and died June 28, 2015 in Cortez, Colorado. When she was three years old, her father, Ed Wyrick landed a job with Texas oil Company, which took them to Russell, Kansas and later as a teenager to Rangely, Colorado. The fondest memories of her childhood were spending the summers with her sister and three cousins at Grandpa Willie Wyrick's homestead in Oklahoma. It was a life of adventure and freedom for the five cousins.

Peggy met David Ross Scates at Camp Christian near Glenwood Springs the summer before her senior year in high school. David was a freshman at Intermountain Bible College in Grand Junction and they married a year later on August 26,1951.

The Scates family moved to Cortez, Colorado in 1959 where David was the pastor at the Christian Church. In 1966 they became missionaries among the Navajo and moved to Red Mesa, Arizona. David and Peggy worked diligently learning the culture and language. Their life at Red Mesa included hauling their own water and using a generator for electricity.

Peggy was "adopted" into a Navajo Clan by Harry & Mary Lee of Cudei, New Mexico. She was born of the Tree Spread Out Clan and from the Salt Clan. Their work on the Navajo Nation spanned 25 years until David's death in 1991.

David & Peggy made their home in Cortez again in 1985 and this gave them close access to their work which included the entire Navajo Nation. They built a hogan at Red Mesa in 1988 as their second home. Peggy began to work as the executive secretary for the Towaoc Head Start and she retired from that position a few years following David's death.

In 2004 Peggy married Kenneth Miller, a rancher from Eastland. She enjoyed the rigorous ranching country life with Kenneth very much.

Peggy's other great joy was researching family history. She joined the local Daughter's of the American Revolution - Sleeping Ute Mountain Chapter. Her research was extensive and impressive.

Peggy was preceded in death by her parents, Ed & Lucille Wyrick; son, Jeffrey Kent Scates; husband, David Ross Scates; husband Kenneth Miller and sister, Mary Lucille Wyrick Beyer.

Peggy is survived by one sister, Hap (Robert) Wysocki of Phoenix and one brother, Mark (Evie) Wyrick of Bullhead City AZ; five children: Dan Norman (Beverly) Scates of Longmont CO, Lynn Marie (Jim) Adams of Nampa ID, David Erskine Scates of Cortez CO, Kelly Neal (Becky) Scates of Delta CO and Jennifer Dawn (Curtis) Batchelder of Rochester IL.; 14 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren.