Meet the Parents: Gil and Kelly Jo Bates

[Salacious Kitty]

4 hours ago, BitterApple said:

Yeah, I love how she managed to get a plug in for Lawson's and Erin's CD's in the middle of her tribute. 🙄

It doesn't seem the kids were that close to their grandmother either. Only Michael and Alyssa have posted about her passing, although in fairness it's still early. 

Carlin left a message not 15 minutes after Kelly posted. Said something like She will be missed. 

[Heathen]

6 hours ago, ginger90 said:

Kelly’s post:

My mom went to the ER on Saturday with RSV, but sadly her lungs got much worse by Mon. night & her health began to decline rapidly. Early this morning she went to be with the Lord.💔😭 She always said she didn’t want to die alone, & we filled her room with so much love these past few days… All of her children, plus her 2 siblings gathered & sat by her bedside. Mom was able to respond to us the majority of the time; she kept smiling, waving, blowing kisses, & squeezing our hands. She asked me again & again to keep the music playing that her grandkids had made, so we played piano music with Scripture readings from Erin’s new cd, along with many songs from Lawson’s & Travis’ cds… Mom loved her children, grandchildren, & her great grand children! She loved bragging on them, like any grandmother, & she lit up when they entered the room! She had such a fun side, & she loved embarrassing us! Many times, I would show up to a church party or school event to see her dressed up as some crazy character, sitting right in the middle of my friends, mingling & telling stories, & of course, I’d be surprised & embarrassed all at the same time, but she was such a hit with all of my friends! They loved her outgoing personality! She was also full of wisdom, I’ve learned so much from her over the years that have affected my perspective on things. She had so many great tidbits of advice! I will always be grateful for the impact she had on molding me into the person I am today. There’s no way to tell how greatly she will be missed! It was a hard day, a painful day, a tear-filled day as her health faded & we sat through the night saying our goodbyes!This evening, as I sat with my sisters in the funeral home, we hugged & smiled as we told story after story, reflecting on memories! Mom, we will always remember your spunky, fun personality! We will always remember your diligence, your sacrifice, the late night card games, the tuna fish gravy (🙈😂 that’s for you, Brenda!), & so so so many special memories! You will be forever missed 😭😭 & forever loved!

I question the maturity of someone who uses those stupid emojis in a post about her mother's death. Grow up, Kelly. Act like an adult instead of a goddamn twelve-year-old. 

[So unbelievable]

If anyone played Lawson's "music" while on my deathbed, I will haunt you for eternity for subjecting me to that shit!

[Salacious Kitty]

[PrincessPurrsALot]

So they tortured her to death with Lawson's music.  Good to know. 

I've worked with a few fundies.  Some have been weirdly disconnected when it comes to death.  They are so indoctrinated in the belief that the person is "going home to the Lord" that they are forbidden to see sadness.  They are expected to celebrate or at least act like it's just another day.  As a grief counselor, I find it very disturbing. 

[Meow Mix]

Wow, that post from Kelly is something.  I know Michael went and took care of her grandmother when she had COVID and after her grandmother's husband died from it.  Kelly barely acknowledged that death even though he probably meant a lot to her mother.  And I doubt Kelly did much to help look after her mother.  As for the music, it would have been far less tacky to just say they played her favorite music for her and read scriptures.  I am sure she was fine with Lawson's caterwauling because he is her grandson.  

[BitterApple]

Here's the obituary for Kelly's mom:

https://www.richandthompson.com/tributes/Betty-Pitcher

I didn't know Kelly had a brother who passed, that's really sad.

I'm also surprised that her mother had an advanced degree. It's crazy the Bateses went from a Grandmother with a Master's to kids who barely go to school at all. 

[Eureka]

Am I reading that obit correctly, she was widowed four times? Wow.

[Salacious Kitty]

9 minutes ago, Eureka said:

Am I reading that obit correctly, she was widowed four times? Wow.

No. She was divorced from Kelly's dad. Kelly lived with him, and her sisters lived with her. I know the last husband died of covid. Not sure about the fates of the other two.

[BitterApple]

It said in the obit that she was predeceased by four husbands, but I don't know if the middle two died and she remarried or whether she divorced and they simply passed before she did. 

[Salacious Kitty]

7 hours ago, BitterApple said:

It said in the obit that she was predeceased by four husbands, but I don't know if the middle two died and she remarried or whether she divorced and they simply passed before she did. 

I guess it's easier to say that then mention the pesky divorce (s). I do think Kelly's dad predeceased her mom, so I guess it's technically correct. Just not the whole truth.

[iluvobx]

On 11/11/2022 at 5:37 PM, BitterApple said:

Here's the obituary for Kelly's mom:

https://www.richandthompson.com/tributes/Betty-Pitcher

I didn't know Kelly had a brother who passed, that's really sad.

I'm also surprised that her mother had an advanced degree. It's crazy the Bateses went from a Grandmother with a Master's to kids who barely go to school at all. 

Not to mention that Kelly holds 2 degrees and I believe that Gil also holds a Bachelor degree from Anderson College. 

[Salacious Kitty]

3 hours ago, iluvobx said:

Not to mention that Kelly holds 2 degrees and I believe that Gil also holds a Bachelor degree from Anderson College. 

The obituary didn't mention Kelly's education. It was Betty who had a master's. 

FWIW, Gil and Kelly transferred to, and graduated from, Carson Newman College in TN. They met at Anderson College.

[iluvobx]

20 hours ago, Salacious Kitty said:

The obituary didn't mention Kelly's education. It was Betty who had a master's. 

FWIW, Gil and Kelly transferred to, and graduated from, Carson Newman College in TN. They met at Anderson College.

Kelly has talked in the past about her degrees.  I would hope that the obit did not mention Kelly's education.  My response was about how they were educated yet chose to keep their offspring uneducated.  That is the puzzling thing, they are both educated, come from educated families yet fell for a cult that believes females hold no purpose except to be brood mares and to keep their children uneducated.  At least a lot of the Bates children are stepping away from the cult but not far enough to be main stream.

[Meow Mix]

On 11/15/2022 at 10:01 AM, iluvobx said:

Kelly has talked in the past about her degrees.  I would hope that the obit did not mention Kelly's education.  My response was about how they were educated yet chose to keep their offspring uneducated.  That is the puzzling thing, they are both educated, come from educated families yet fell for a cult that believes females hold no purpose except to be brood mares and to keep their children uneducated.  At least a lot of the Bates children are stepping away from the cult but not far enough to be main stream.

Some of the Bates girls may have thrown out their fundy frump wear, but unfortunately when it comes to education they are all homeschooling.  And from the looks of their social media posts, they are not bright enough to provide the education their kids will need to function in the future.  The grandkids educations will be a bad copy of a bad copy.  It's very sad.

[GeeGolly]

I wonder about Josie and Kelton. Josie seems to actually work part-time, maybe they'll put the kids in school or at least a co-op.

[BitterApple]

Oh, Lord. Per Trace's latest video, Kelly tried to buy a Husky puppy for Ellie and got scammed.

She found the dog on Marketplace for $300. That should've been red flag #1. A purebred, papered Husky is gonna cost way more than a few hundred bucks. Anyways, she put a down payment on it, then the usual shenanigans start where the breeder needs more money, more information, keeps changing the meetup info, etc. Obviously there was no dog, and Kelly admitted her sons warned her it was a shady deal.

I don't judge her too harshly because we're all human and it could happen to any of us, but I'm surprised she didn't do a little research beforehand. Anyways they must've gotten some dogs from somewhere because there were two puppies at the Christmas party. I don't think it's the greatest breed choice for their family, but that's on them. Hopefully the pups won't disappear like 99% of the rest of Fundie pets. 

Edited December 10, 2022 by BitterApple

[Salacious Kitty]

Warden polled his followers about what kind of dog to get. It was between a husky, Alaskan malamute, and a German shepherd. WTF he needs to do with a dog is beyond me. Why not just take over the care of Duke? Lawson sure doesn't give a shit about him. 

[AgathaC]

3 hours ago, BitterApple said:

Oh, Lord. Per Trace's latest video, Kelly tried to buy a Husky puppy for Ellie and got scammed.

She found the dog on Marketplace for $300. That should've been red flag #1. A purebred, papered Husky is gonna cost way more than a few hundred bucks. Anyways, she put a down payment on it, then the usual shenanigans start where the breeder needs more money, more information, keeps changing the meetup info, etc. Obviously there was no dog, and Kelly admitted her sons warned her it was a shady deal.

I don't judge her too harshly because we're all human and it could happen to any of us, but I'm surprised she didn't do a little research beforehand. Anyways they must've gotten some dogs from somewhere because there were two puppies at the Christmas party. I don't think it's the greatest breed choice for their family, but that's on them. Hopefully the pups won't disappear like 99% of the rest of Fundie pets. 

That’s too bad. I used to investigate puppy scams for a state agency and there are a LOT of them — and a lot of victims (many of them intelligent and well-educated). The people who pull it off are extremely good at what they do, unfortunately. Too bad she didn’t listen to the boys.

[Meow Mix]

I'm sorry she got scammed, but I just don't get this obsession with certain breeds particularly something like a husky that you can't just throw outside and ignore.  Shelters are full of dogs who would be great for their family if they must have a dog.  Of course, I think they are terrible pet owners and shouldn't have animals at all because they don't grasp the responsibility involved.  

[ginger90]

Screenshot from a video where she says this sweater makes her feel playful and 20 years younger, as she pulls at different parts of it to show the fringe. 🤷🏼‍♀️

[GeeGolly]

Oh dear. I like that sweater. lol

[Salacious Kitty]

Oh dear. That sweater is hideous. It makes her look five sizes larger than she is. And no to flowers like that after age 10. 

Edited December 31, 2022 by Salacious Kitty

[Heathen]

5 hours ago, Salacious Kitty said:

Oh dear. That sweater is hideous. It makes her look five sizes larger than she is. And no to flowers like that after age 10. 

Hideous and unfinished. My first thought was that someone ran out of time to finish the cuffs and neckline. 

Waaaaay too big for her. 

[Spazamanaz]

She looks like a rug.

[Meow Mix]

Responding to the discussion that started on the Trace and Lydia thread regarding Gil and Kelly's Q&A full of lies.

I will just point out that Kelly used to have a blog that met with an "unfortunate accident" around the time that Gothard's perversions were exposed.  She managed to disappear the posts around Erin's wedding where they had a groom's cake celebrating Gothard's birthday and had him give the charge to the couple at the wedding.  Some of those pictures have been fished out of the bowels of the internet, so Kelly's attempt to disappear them didn't work.

Also on that blog were plenty of statements from Kelly about how they left the number of children they had up to God and everyone should do the same.  When I think Alyssa was about to marry, some gross person in the comments actually asked if Alyssa and John were leaving the number of children they had up to God.  I'll take things that are none of anyone's business for 200, Alex.

As to Kelly's claims about the reality show showing their real life, once again nope.  I Love You Day was nothing more than everyone getting together for dinner and people drawing names to give small presents.  There were no costume contests or catered meals.  They did start the couples dinner tradition because Erin was courting and Alyssa was getting to know John, but it wasn't at a fancy restaurant.  And as far as I could see, there were a few trips here and there where they crashed at friends' houses, but no huge rentals and big ski trips.  

[GeeGolly]

For sure things improved when UP came along. One is the Bates had money for the first time in their lives and two, all the reality show producers love a good field-trip/vacation.

[Jeanne222]

I think the Duggers were to thank for the Bates family getting a show!

 I remember the Duggers pulling up and doing a big add on to the Bates home. I can’t remember everything but maybe it was them that added that whole second floor!

Gil was up in trees trimming every day. 

Maybe the good looks of the family got them noticed by the camera. 

Not too long and they had a show. 

I sure don’t Miss Kelly flapping her gums but I’d still like to hear what lost them the show. 

Networks put up with a lot of BS if the show is drawing in advertising.

 I’m still not sure the show was cancelled due to a remark by one of the kids. I think there’s more to it!

[cereality]

So per Whit Gil’s dad is a retired judge - and bc Z was a cop/moonlights as a cop, they swap stories. Of course Reddit is downplaying it with - oh he was ONLY a magistrate (a lower court judge) and the Bates have done sooo well for themselves without any fancy book learnin’.

As a lawyer myself I’m stunned at the downward mobility here in just 3 generations. In order to be any kind of judge, Papa Bill was a lawyer first. So grandpa goes to freaking law school. The parents go to regular college and meet in Chem class. The dad even holds a corporate career for a while at Nabisco. Then joins a cult, gives up corporate life for tree trimming, and gives his kids no education?! Yeah yeah homeschool blah blah but as bad as Josie/Katie/Carlin are with basic English and logic and as much as Alyssa appears to be learning basic grade school science thru Aly, you can’t tell me much real schooling happened. And now with Addie, Ellie, Callie, and feral Jeb and Jud - no one even pretends there’s schooling.

Wow that’s some downward mobility - regardless of whether they can make money hawking barrettes or Cuts sweatpants or whatever.

[Heathen]

20 minutes ago, cereality said:

So per Whit Gil’s dad is a retired judge - and bc Z was a cop/moonlights as a cop, they swap stories. Of course Reddit is downplaying it with - oh he was ONLY a magistrate (a lower court judge) and the Bates have done sooo well for themselves without any fancy book learnin’.

As a lawyer myself I’m stunned at the downward mobility here in just 3 generations. In order to be any kind of judge, Papa Bill was a lawyer first. So grandpa goes to freaking law school. The parents go to regular college and meet in Chem class. The dad even holds a corporate career for a while at Nabisco. Then joins a cult, gives up corporate life for tree trimming, and gives his kids no education?! Yeah yeah homeschool blah blah but as bad as Josie/Katie/Carlin are with basic English and logic and as much as Alyssa appears to be learning basic grade school science thru Aly, you can’t tell me much real schooling happened. And now with Addie, Ellie, Callie, and feral Jeb and Jud - no one even pretends there’s schooling.

Wow that’s some downward mobility - regardless of whether they can make money hawking barrettes or Cuts sweatpants or whatever.

Wasn't Gil in sales for Nabisco? It was probably a good job, but to me, "corporate" makes it sound like Gil's hick ass was in the C-suite. No matter what, he and Kelly made a nauseatingly selfish decision for him to quit that job. 

You're right about their downward mobility. It's depressing as hell that Lazy and Lazier did that to their kids. Most of them probably can't spell "magistrate." 

Edited February 28, 2023 by Heathen
It amuses me to think of CEO Gil with his 1980s flattop haircut, sloppy clothes, and gaping maw.

[cereality]

Yeah I get it - he wasn’t CEO of Nabisco but IME sales for a big corporation is still a white collar job requiring a degree - even today. He wasn’t selling Oreos on the street, rather those kinds of sales guys are pushing chains like Publix or Kroger or whomever to contract to buy more Oreos to sell on their shelves at their 1000s of locations. Not the highest end c suite job but a far far cry from grifting or quitting his job to invest in the kids as Zach and Evan are doing.

Guaranteed Carlin, Katie, Josie, Law, frankly the majority of them - if asked on IG what a magistrate is, they couldn’t explain it.

 

Edited February 28, 2023 by cereality

[SMama]

Does anyone know what Gil’s siblings do for a living? What about their children?

 I remember falling down a rabbit hole a long time ago reading about K&G’s pre TV life. Someone was recounting a story he told about how he got in the tree business. Allegedly they were in trouble financially and some guy either gifted or heavily discounted the most expensive piece of equipment Gil needed. He took that as God’s approval of him quitting his job and neglecting his children. 

[BetyBee]

58 minutes ago, SMama said:

Does anyone know what Gil’s siblings do for a living? What about their children?

 I remember falling down a rabbit hole a long time ago reading about K&G’s pre TV life. Someone was recounting a story he told about how he got in the tree business. Allegedly they were in trouble financially and some guy either gifted or heavily discounted the most expensive piece of equipment Gil needed. He took that as God’s approval of him quitting his job and neglecting his children. 

That sounds a lot like Evan!

[floridamom]

Yes, Jim Bob Duggar and TLC are directly responsible for the Bates parents climbing out of poverty and re-doing their dilapidated, overcrowded house. JB had the keen idea to do one of their shows depicting them remodeling the Bates house for them.JB pitched this to Gil to make it an episode so the Bates could have the TV network pay for the additions. TLC went for it and paid. Smart, isn't it? This, then brought attention to the Bates family with their failed show, UB of America,..which led them to switch networks to UP and we had the BUB series. Yes, I wish those two, G&K, would be truthful as God would want them to be and state just why their show was quickly and quietly yanked from the network.

[Jeanne222]

11 minutes ago, floridamom said:

Yes, Jim Bob Duggar and TLC are directly responsible for the Bates parents climbing out of poverty and re-doing their dilapidated, overcrowded house. JB had the keen idea to do one of their shows depicting them remodeling the Bates house for them.JB pitched this to Gil to make it an episode so the Bates could have the TV network pay for the additions. TLC went for it and paid. Smart, isn't it? This, then brought attention to the Bates family with their failed show, UB of America,..which led them to switch networks to UP and we had the BUB series. Yes, I wish those two, G&K, would be truthful as God would want them to be and state just why their show was quickly and quietly yanked from the network.

It had to be something really bad because they even brought back the Duggers under the two sisters and slowly had them all showing up again until Josh killed the show!

[GeeGolly]

14 minutes ago, floridamom said:

Yes, Jim Bob Duggar and TLC are directly responsible for the Bates parents climbing out of poverty and re-doing their dilapidated, overcrowded house. JB had the keen idea to do one of their shows depicting them remodeling the Bates house for them.JB pitched this to Gil to make it an episode so the Bates could have the TV network pay for the additions. TLC went for it and paid. Smart, isn't it? This, then brought attention to the Bates family with their failed show, UB of America,..which led them to switch networks to UP and we had the BUB series. Yes, I wish those two, G&K, would be truthful as God would want them to be and state just why their show was quickly and quietly yanked from the network.

They Duggars did get the Bates out of poverty but not before leaving them with an unfinished house that was unlivable. The Duggars pulled away with the original house uninhabitable and the new house (called the addition) unfinished.

The Bates had to move into a hotel and some special friends came and finished the house.

[Heathen]

7 minutes ago, GeeGolly said:

They Duggars did get the Bates out of poverty but not before leaving them with an unfinished house that was unlivable. The Duggars pulled away with the original house uninhabitable and the new house (called the addition) unfinished.

The Bates had to move into a hotel and some special friends came and finished the house.

If it weren't for the Bates kids having to live like that -- if it were just the idiot parents -- I'd be giggling. I imagine there are still some hard feelings toward the Duggars for doing that, "sweet friends" notwithstanding. 

Who paid for the hotel? We know it wasn't Gil and Kelly. 🙄 How bad did they leave the old house? 

[GeeGolly]

Just now, Heathen said:

If it weren't for the Bates kids having to live like that -- if it were just the idiot parents -- I'd be giggling. I imagine there are still some hard feelings toward the Duggars for doing that, "sweet friends" notwithstanding. 

Who paid for the hotel? We know it wasn't Gil and Kelly. 🙄 How bad did they leave the old house? 

They didn't say who paid for the hotel. The old house ended up being an attached shed. Before it was done the only room that was semi-intact was the old tiny living room. The Stodden family was also helping. This is how the house was left.

[Notabug]

40 minutes ago, Jeanne222 said:

It had to be something really bad because they even brought back the Duggers under the two sisters and slowly had them all showing up again until Josh killed the show!

Up was also marketing the new season of the show right up until a couple of days before it was cancelled.  There are a bunch of finished shows for that season that have never been aired and probably never will.  Seems like something very sudden and dramatic occurred to cause such a big 180.

[SMama]

25 minutes ago, Notabug said:

Up was also marketing the new season of the show right up until a couple of days before it was cancelled.  There are a bunch of finished shows for that season that have never been aired and probably never will.  Seems like something very sudden and dramatic occurred to cause such a big 180.

I’m very surprised nothing has leaked about the abrupt cancellation. Look at the Duggars. When people know they talk. Either it is buried for good or the Bates are well liked and well protected.

[GeeGolly]

2 hours ago, SMama said:

I’m very surprised nothing has leaked about the abrupt cancellation. Look at the Duggars. When people know they talk. Either it is buried for good or the Bates are well liked and well protected.

I'm guessing folks know. Look how long it took for the rumble of gossip about Josh (scandal #1) to make it to the surface.

Edited February 28, 2023 by GeeGolly

[65mickey]

15 hours ago, cereality said:

So per Whit Gil’s dad is a retired judge - and bc Z was a cop/moonlights as a cop, they swap stories. Of course Reddit is downplaying it with - oh he was ONLY a magistrate (a lower court judge) and the Bates have done sooo well for themselves without any fancy book learnin’.

As a lawyer myself I’m stunned at the downward mobility here in just 3 generations. In order to be any kind of judge, Papa Bill was a lawyer first. So grandpa goes to freaking law school. The parents go to regular college and meet in Chem class. The dad even holds a corporate career for a while at Nabisco. Then joins a cult, gives up corporate life for tree trimming, and gives his kids no education?! Yeah yeah homeschool blah blah but as bad as Josie/Katie/Carlin are with basic English and logic and as much as Alyssa appears to be learning basic grade school science thru Aly, you can’t tell me much real schooling happened. And now with Addie, Ellie, Callie, and feral Jeb and Jud - no one even pretends there’s schooling.

Wow that’s some downward mobility - regardless of whether they can make money hawking barrettes or Cuts sweatpants or whatever.

I don't believe that Papa Bill is an attorney. He was a magistrate judge and in SC they are not required to be an attorney. The requirements are that you must be a US citizen, a resident of the SC for 5 years, have a 2 year associate degree and be between the ages of 21 and 72.  What I read on Reddit is that he and Jane owned a grocery store and that Gill and his siblings worked in the store growing up. I have a feeling that the magistrate position was probably part time. 

[GeeGolly]

Google has both Bill and Jane listed as medical and clerical. I wonder if he did drug sales/pharma rep and she did medical billing or was a medical office receptionist or something.

Obviously I'm just guessing.

They are both listed as having their Associate's degrees.

[3 is enough]

I vaguely remember reading somewhere that Jane was a nurse.  At one time you could get an RN from a community college and given Jane’s age it was probably the norm at the time.

[andromeda331]

On 2/27/2023 at 10:51 AM, Meow Mix said:

I will just point out that Kelly used to have a blog that met with an "unfortunate accident" around the time that Gothard's perversions were exposed.  She managed to disappear the posts around Erin's wedding where they had a groom's cake celebrating Gothard's birthday and had him give the charge to the couple at the wedding.  Some of those pictures have been fished out of the bowels of the internet, so Kelly's attempt to disappear them didn't work.

Free Jinger has the picture and other things they found that Kelly had erased from her account. The thing that still surprises me about Kelly is what a terrible liar she is. Her claiming Gothard's birthday cake was a groom's cake included a picture of the cake with Happy Birthday Gothard. You'd think she would have cropped that out but no. Or trying to claim her wall of Confederate soldiers including the grand wizar of the KKK was a "Patriot wall". Just from watching the show. She lies so much you'd think she'd be good at it.

[ozziemom]

I still remember the Q&A Kj did with Alyssa where KJ was explaining how she was the only one who took care of her kids. The look on Alyssa’s face was complete disbelief. According to KJ when she had morning sickness she had the kids gather around her while she laid on the couch. And did homeschooling from the couch. She didn’t explain where the toddlers were during all this. It was comical as she seemed to really believe her own lies.

[SMama]

Kelly (or whoever does the posting) posted a teaser for ILY day soliciting guesses for this year’s theme. None of the kids have posted about it, unless they are waiting for tomorrow. 
 

My guess: My career had my parents not joined a cult and kept me barely literate. 

[Heathen]

3 hours ago, SMama said:

Kelly (or whoever does the posting) posted a teaser for ILY day soliciting guesses for this year’s theme. None of the kids have posted about it, unless they are waiting for tomorrow. 
 

My guess: My career had my parents not joined a cult and kept me barely literate. 

Do tell! 

[So unbelievable]

7 hours ago, SMama said:

Kelly (or whoever does the posting) posted a teaser for ILY day soliciting guesses for this year’s theme. None of the kids have posted about it, unless they are waiting for tomorrow. 
 

My guess: My career had my parents not joined a cult and kept me barely literate. 

Michaela posted something yesterday on IG with her sewing.  Brandon's old timey jacket/vest has buttons with a clock on them.  Is that supposed to be a clue?  I'm sure it will be a huge let down, at least to me.  KJ is far from being creative and her "themes" are just lame.   I'd guess A Stitch in Time, but that is way above the Bates reading level.  

[YupItsMe]

Steampunk?