HAROLD BATE's Obituary
Harold Bate, 87 of Boynton Beach, Florida and formerly of Rockland County, died on October 7, 2020.
Harold was born in Lynbrook, NY on October 27, 1932. He was the third of three boys born to Elizabeth (Schopick) and Abraham Bate. Harold is survived by his three beloved children: Larry (Stacy) of Thiells, Beth (Richard) of Stony Point and Jennifer (Tony), of Jersey City, NJ. and four grandsons: Spencer, Jordon, Justin and Trevor and Jennifer’s step-daughters Alexa and Caitlyn. He is also a survived by two step children, Randi Roistacher Strelitz (EJ) and Ronald (Bari), Randi’s children Nathan, Jacob and Jessica and Ron’s son Noah, all of Virginia Beach. He was predeceased by his first wife Jacqueline (Fine), his second wife Sydelle Roistacher and his two brothers Jack and Sidney.
As we were reflecting on his life, dad mentioned that “between my mother Elizabeth, Sophie (his step mother) your mother (Jacqueline) and Sydelle (his second wife) I had great women in my life.”
A child of the Great Depression, our dad often told stories of how he awoke before dawn to deliver seltzer to local families before heading off to school; Dad learned how to drive a truck at 13 and took on many responsibilities for his family, due to WWII and the early death of his mother. After graduating Lynbrook High in 1950 he went to work for his uncle, who owned Schneider and Bass of Coney Island and honed his skills; a year later he started his own business back in Lynbrook. As the business evolved, he and his brother Sid went from a wholesale distribution and route sales to a soda and beer distributorship. In 1955 Harold and Jackie married and eventually settled in Wantagh where they started their family. After suffering a serious back injury, Harold decided to sell his share of the business and started a new life with his young family, first in Flushing, NY and eventually settling in Spring Valley in 1968. By that time he had began a second career in the greeting card field and later as a manufacturer’s representative in the Gift and Stationery Industry where dad met a group of people who would be life-long friends. In later years he entered the insurance industry both in New York and Florida, where he relocated in 1992.
Harold was a proud to be a veteran of the Korean Conflict, a Mason and a member of the Knights of Pythias-Ramapo Lodge 485.
Due to COVID-19 a small funeral will be held, and there will be no formal Shiva. Friends are encouraged to contact family directly to pay their respects. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to be made in Harold’s memory to ARC of Rockland: https://www.arcofrockland.org/who-are/donate; or the Association for the Visually Impaired (www.avieyes.org) (260 Old Nyack Turnpike, Spring Valley, NY )
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