My father, Frederic Mates, supposedly died when he was on a visit to
Kansas City in December, 1982.  But there's no death certificate on
record there.  We never saw a body -- he was cremated quickly, and all
that was shipped home was an urn of ashes.  I'm looking for public
information about his death.  Did he really die?  What hospital did he
die at?  Can a death certificate be found?

I can find him listed in the Social Security Death Index, but that
doesn't answer my questions.

This is the same Fred Mates who made a big splash in the stock market
in 1968.

If it helps in locating information: He sometimes used the middle
initial S.

I've done a lot of web searching already but haven't come up with
anything.

Thanks for any information you can find.

Hi Valerie!

I started to research this, but I won't be able to complete it today..
so I thought I would simply give you what I have so far.

It's VERY likely there is some sort of information about your father
at the Kansas City Star, in December 1982's archives. This information
(prior to 1991)is on microfiche (sp?), and requires a real person to
look it up. There is a person there that does this for a fee, her name
is Fanny Witherspoon. She's their Information Researcher. You may
contact her directly at 1-816-234-4495.

The gentleman I spoke to at the Star said it's very likely there is an
article or something, possibly an obituary (Fred Mates, of XXX City
died while in KC and XXX Funeral Home will be handling the remains).
He suggested contacting that Funeral Home if it is indeed listed in an
article or obituary in the Microfiche archives, or, calling all the
Funeral Homes in KC. There can't be too many and I'm sure records were
kept.

I have another lead for you as well.

This webpage: http://csf.colorado.edu/forums/longwaves/dec99/msg00976.html
has comments from a gentleman named "Al Newman". He was a client of
your father. Mr. Newman's email address is listed on the page, he may
know something or have more names for you.

Besides all that, I found a Life Magazine dated 05/22/1970 with an
article about your father that you might want to own, for sentimental
reasons. Obviously he was alive at that time but I thought you might
like knowing it exists. (
http://www.magfind.com/magfind/magfind.nsf/05c215bb3fb0bfb385256ab80009403b/e4f2dae8c9e33945852568fc0076d169!OpenDocument
)

Search Strategy at Google:

"Fred Mates"
"Frederic Mates"
"Fred S Mates"
"Frederic S Mates"

"Mates Investment Fund"
"Kansas City" "Fred Mates" (and other variations)
"Mates Fund"

"Fred Mates" 1982 (no results)

The second group of keywords actually result in many interesting pages
about your father's company and resulting highs and lows in 1967/1968.
I skimmed them all and would have followed other leads had there been
time.

I sincerely wish you the best, it must be hard wondering what happened
to your father.

Thanks very much for looking into this.  I appreciate it very much!

About a year and a half ago, based on those discussion forum posts, I
contacted Al Newman.  He knew my father in the late 1950s and was able
to tell me a bit about that part of my father's life.  He and my
father had fallen out of touch long before my father died.

I do indeed know about the Life Magazine article too.  In fact,
there's a picture of me in it!  In the photo my dad is stretched out
on the floor, with me, at age four, sitting on top of him.  :)  I
think I used up seven or eight of my 15 minutes of fame right there. 
:)

Many many thanks for the Kansas City Star lead.  That's a great lead
indeed!  I will try contacting Fanny the Microfiche Lady.

Random trivia: The articles that say that the Mates Investment Fund
doesn't exist anymore are wrong.  It was renamed the Rainbow Fund and
is around today.  Here's a page with some info about it:
http://cbs.marketwatch.com/tools/mutualfunds/overview.asp?siteid=mktw&symb=RBOWX&sid=4033

Again, thanks very much for looking into this!  I'll keep you posted
about what the Microfiche Lady says.

-Valerie Mates

Valerie:

Here is some information for you that may help unravel this mystery.
My wife works at the Memphis morgue so she gladly told me to relay
this information to you as it gives her a chance to show off her
knowledge of all things morbid. ;)

Cremation Procedure: Cremations can only take place with proper
authorization. This could have been your mother or someone with the
proper credentials, like a family lawyer with power of attorney
(properly documented!). When the cremains are shipped there are
_usually_ two documents with them: The cremation order and a copy of
the death certificate.

Therefore, to start backtracking this, I would contact the funeral
home that the cremains come from first. Cremation orders also have to
be filled with the Missouri State Board of Embalmers and Funeral
Directors. Their address & phone:

Missouri State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors
P.O. Box 423
Jefferson City, MO 65102
573-751-0813

This might get you close to locating the death certificate.

Violent Death: If, by sad chance, your father died by homicide or
suicide then chances are he was taken to the Jackson County morgue.
(About the only people who do not pass through the morgue are elderly
people who die at a hospital.) If an autopsy was performed then they
would have records of it. Contact them at:

Jackson County Medical Examiner
660 E. 24th Street
Kansas City, MO 64108
Telephone: (816) 881-6600
FAX: (816) 556-3064

I hope this helps you with your search! Be sure to let us know how
things turn out.

Ms. Mates,

You're probably aware of this already, but just in case, your father's
obituary appeared in The New York Times, December 30, 1982.

poenadare - Thanks for the lead on the cremation documentation.  I'll
try following up on that.  And, thankfully, he didn't die violently. 
He died of illness.

pafalafa - Thanks for the info about the NY Times Obituary.  I think
I'd known that there was one, but I hadn't thought to look for it.

valerie,

In addition to a death certificate being filed in the city hall or
county courthouse where the death occurred, a state's Department of
Vital Statistics usually gets a copy as well, because they use this to
do statistical analysis on the demographics of the people who die.
With the information you already have, you should be able to request a
copy of your father's death certificate by sending a check or money
order for $10 to:

Bureau of Vital Records
State of Missouri
930 Wildwood
PO Box 570
Jefferson City, MO 65102

According to their website, you will need to include:
"- First, middle and last name of the deceased whose record is being
requested
 - Date of death--month, day and year or, at a minimum,
   the last date the deceased was known to be alive 
 - Place of death (city or county where the death occurred) 
 - Your relationship to the deceased 
   (are you a relative or legal representative) 
 - Explain your reason for requesting the record 
   (for establishing personal or property rights, genealogy, etc.)"
http://www.health.state.mo.us/BirthAndDeathRecords/BirthAndDeathRecords.html

Search Strategy
missouri vital statistics death certificates
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=missouri+vital+statistics+death+certificates&btnG=Google+Search

valerie, I will be crossing my fingers and hoping for you that this
will enable you to obtain a copy of your father's death certificate.

Best Wishes, and Good Luck!

aceresearcher