Church Remembers Former Pastor Hayden Cates, 1926-2012

A funeral service will be held Monday morning for Hayden Cates, who founded First Assembly of God in 1956, the same year the City of Imperial Beach was established.

Cates was born and raised in Oklahoma and wanted to be a cowboy, but gave up the dream after a near-death experiece while trying to wrangle cattle in Texas.

His horse flipped, and that's when he said he heard the voice of God.

"I heard Him say to me 'Will you tell them for me?' I said 'Tell them what?' He said 'Tell them I love them, my son died for them and I cry for them,'" Cates told IB Patch earlier this year.

His wife Maxine was the church's music teacher and could play multiple instruments in the church's band. The two met in bible college in San Francisco and were married more than six decades. 

"I fell over backwards and rolled over three chairs," he told IB Patch about the first time he met his wife and her "blazing red curls."

Though he gave up being a cowboy, Cates enjoyed riding horses around South San Diego, Imperial Beach streets and Tijuana.

To read more about Cates, see this IB Patch article written earlier this year after Cates delivered his final sermon as the church's pastor and retired.

A funeral service will be held Monday at City View Church of Imperial Beach, formerly First Assembly of God, at 588 9th St. at 11 a.m.

Cates passed away Oct. 15. He was 86.

He is survived by his sons, John and Don; daughter-in-laws, Mary and Arna and nine great grandchildren.