Cate, Early Wal-Mart Manager, Dies at 68
Last updated Tuesday, January 30, 2007 6:42 PM CST in News
By Robin Mero
The Morning News
BENTONVILLE --Charles Robert "Charlie" Cate, 68, of Rogers died Monday night, leaving a legacy as one of the original Wal-Mart store managers who worked 27 years for Sam Walton.
Cate retired in 1981 at age 43, living a quiet, relatively simple life despite his wealth -- taking pleasure in grandchildren, Razorback sports and driving his trademark Buick Rivieras.
The day Wal-Mart shares went public in the 1960s, Cate borrowed $1,000 from a bank to buy shares at the urging of a supervisor, says childhood friend Richard Watson of Fayetteville.
That investment blossomed into a lifetime earning Cate estimated at $100 million, Watson said Tuesday.
"He said it wasn't through any effort on his part, or intelligence, and he was never totally comfortable with his wealth," Watson said. "Something about Sam Walton rubbed off on him. He didn't want to appear pretentious."
Cate never met a stranger, always remembered birthdays and swapped many a story over morning coffee at his favorite haunts, friends said.
"You could just about set your watch that Cate would pull up in one of his Rivieras," said Freddie Baggett, who opened a Rogers drug store and soda fountain on Walton Boulevard in the 1970s. "If he was around, you knew it, and he'd chide you a little bit if he knew something he could exploit."
Cate was a hard-line Democrat but softened after many years of friendly debate with county Republicans, said Benton County's Senior Circuit Judge Tom Keith.
"He always said I was the first Republican he supported for public office," Keith remembered Tuesday. "He served one term on the Quorum Court. I don't think at the time he was ready to run for public office, but he always had a great appreciation for the work the Quorum Court did. He was such a thoughtful man."
As recently as Dec. 2, Cate was in the Georgia Dome cheering his beloved Razorbacks, friends said. But he battled several years with cancer, and succumbed late Monday evening under hospice care -- near his five children, Robert, Jimmy, Vicki, Trina and Tara.
Cate was born in Farmington on May 1938 to Lela Teague Cate and Harold Cate. The family lived modestly, said Watson.
At 16, he began work as a stockboy, sweeping floors of Walton's Ben Franklin store on the Fayetteville Square.
Cate was promoted to assistant manager at the first Wal-Mart store in Rogers in 1964, then managed stores in Harrison, Berryville, and Tahlequah, Okla.
"He came from humble beginnings and wasn't used to extravagance," Watson said. "He was obviously glad to be successful for his family, but he never did the things people with that kind of money would do -- although he was a little eccentric about automobiles."
Cate had a passion for 1950s rock 'n' roll, served in the Army National Guard and had nine grandchildren.
A funeral service is planned at 2 p.m. Friday at the First United Methodist Church in Rogers. Burial will follow at Farmington Cemetery. Pallbearers will include Cate's three lifelong friends: Watson, John Paul Davis and Fred J. Johnson.
At about age 13, the four became fast friends after meeting at church in Fayetteville, Watson recalled Tuesday. Cate valued their successes -- Watson as Fayetteville's Police Chief, Davis as second in command with the Arkansas State Police and Johnson as a pilot.
"He took a great deal of pride in the fact that we were all of the same social status, and had no money or great promise in the community -- but turned out well," Watson said.
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Cortez Cate wrote on Jan 31, 2007 6:36 PM:
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