For most of the 36 years of their married life, Ray
and Mira Bateman have lived away from their Utah roots—in California, New
York, Colorado, and Missouri. “Because we usually lived so far from our
extended families, our immediate family became very close,” says Elder
Bateman. “Though we visited Utah every year, our wards have also been our
family, and the gospel has been the center of our lives.”
A native of Sandy, Utah, E Ray Bateman was born on
20 October 1937 to Marlon Samuel and Mary Armstrong Bateman—the third of
four boys. He attended Brigham Young University before serving a mission
in 1957-59 to Toronto, then part of the Canadian Mission. Upon his return,
he attended the University of Utah, where he studied general business.
While in college, he met Mira Dorene Odette from
Monticello, Utah. The students married in Salt Lake City, Utah, on 11 November
1961 and moved to the San Fernando Valley in California. There Ray found
success in business with his first
job—working in sales with the Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., and remained
with the company for 32 years.
Serving as president of the California Carlsbad Mission
when he received the call to the Seventy, Elder Bateman has also served
as a Sunday School teacher, bishop, multiregion welfare director, stake
mission president, and stake high councilor.
The Batemans are the parents of five children—three
daughters and two sons—and the grandparents of nine grandchildren, eight
living. “Our little granddaughter lived only nine days,” says Elder Bateman,
“but it was surprising how close we got to her. We want to keep our lives
in order to make it to where she already is.”
In July 1997 in the San Diego California Temple,
the Batemans witnessed the sealings of their two youngest children to their
spouses. “It was the first time in our lives that we’ve been in the temple
with all five of our children and their spouses. We felt close to each
other and to our little granddaughter. That was a great experience, a glimpse
of heaven.”
