ROBERT (BOB) BATES was raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and attended Northeastern State University in Oklahoma, joining the Tulsa Police Department after he graduated. Bob left the police force in 1965 to begin a fifty-one-year career in the insurance business. He continued his lifelong passion for law enforcement by serving as a reserve deputy with the Tulsa County Sheriff's Department. Bob and his wife, Charlotte, have two daughters, Leslie and Kathy, and six grandchildren.