Born 1924 in Mcminnville, Oregon to Cleo & Jones Prater. Attended McMinnville High School where he met many of his lifelong friends along with his future wife Dorothy. He graduated Mac High and enlisted in the Navy in 1943. He served on the USS Grayson deployed to the South Pacific as a radar man. After his discharge from the Navy, he married Dorothy Kendrick in August of 1946. He is survived by his wife of 70 years, Dorothy. His two daughters, Therese and Denise, two grandchildren, Jessica Fitch & Nathaniel Benke and three great grandchildren. Arrangements under the direction of Lincoln Memorial Funeral Home, Portland, OR.