Finley Thomas Tate
COLUMBIA — Finley Thomas Tate of Vista, Calif., died Tuesday, May 24, 2011, at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, Calif. He was 84.
Mr. Tate enjoyed California because of the warm weather and lack of snow, his daughter Sharon Bridges said.
He was born Feb. 21, 1927, in West Palm Beach, Fla., to Lawrence Edward Tate and Martha Virginia Bartlett.
Mr. Tate studied pre-medicine at MU for three years before his second tour of duty in the U.S. military. He served in World War II and the Korean conflict. Mr. Tate was stationed in Europe, Japan and at various military bases in the United States.
He returned to MU and earned a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1952. Mr. Tate remained involved at MU through his support of the Mizzou Alumni Association.
After college, Mr. Tate had a career in personnel management. He worked at Bendix Aviation Corp. in Kansas City for 12 years and finished his career as personnel manager at publishing company Modern Handcraft Inc. in Kansas City, where he worked for 25 years.
Bridges described her father as inquisitive.
"He liked to investigate and find out more about something," she said. "He would go all out and find all the information possible."
Mr. Tate loved electronics and dabbled in computers and photography, Bridges said.
She said her father was also spontaneous.
"When we were little kids, he would wake us up on Saturday mornings, and we'd head off for weekend trips," Bridges said.
Mr. Tate continued traveling into his 70s and 80s, Bridges said. Most recently, he traveled to New York City to attend the opera.
Mr. Tate is survived by two daughters, Sharon Bridges of Harrisonville and Linda Verdi of San Diego.
His wife of 53 years, Zada Lou Walden, died earlier.
Visitation will be at 2 p.m. Monday at Memorial Funeral Home, 1217 Business Loop 70 West. Services will be at 3 p.m. Burial will follow at Memorial Park Cemetery with full military honors.
Contributions may be made to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, 383 Main Ave., 5th Floor, Norwalk, CT, 06851.
Online tributes may be posted at memorialfuneralhomeandcemetery.com.
