Cynthia A. Bates

Summertown's Cynthia Bates, a founder of The Farm and pioneer of American tempeh, passes at 78. Cynthia A. Bates, 78, of Summertown, TN passed away peacefully at home on June 23, 2026. She was surrounded by family, friends, music and prayer. Cynthia was born June 20, 1948, in Lansing, Michigan, to decorated WWII veteran, Norbert W. Winkler and Florence M. Davenport. Cynthia was only four years old, and the second of four children, when her mother passed suddenly in 1953. Her father remarried Janet Hazel in 1954, who raised Cynthia and her siblings as her own. They relocated to Traverse City, Michigan, where the Winkler family grew by five more children. Cynthia’s parents taught all their children the value of hard work, good study habits, and how to have fun! Cynthia attended St. Francis Catholic School and enjoyed swimming in Grand Traverse Bay, horseback riding, and exploring the great outdoors. After high school, Cynthia attended Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) for two years and then went on to Kalamazoo College on a full merit-based scholarship, where she studied Biology. After college, and always up for an adventure, Cynthia hitch-hiked from San Francisco, California to Summertown, TN to join more than 300 young people who founded The Farm, an intentional community that would become one of the most well-known and influential of the 20th century. Here she met her husband, Albert K. Bates. They were married in 1973 and had two children, Gretchen and Will. The Farm’s founders, pacifists to the core, committed to a vegan diet, and it fell to Cynthia to make sure that the more than 1,200 of its residents, and the thousands of visitors that passed through each month, were healthy and well fed. She rose to that challenge by turning to an ancient fermented food from Southeast Asia called tempeh — and in doing so, she changed the American food landscape. Working with scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Cornell University, Cynthia developed reliable, replicable methods for producing tempeh starter cultures on a commercial scale. In 1976, she opened the Tempeh Lab in Summertown, the first business in the world dedicated to supplying pure cultures to tempeh producers. In 1977, Cynthia carried Lewis County’s story to the other side of the world when she was invited to present her research at the World Symposium on Indigenous Fermented Foods in Bangkok, Thailand. Closer to home, her recipes appeared in The Farm Vegetarian Cookbook and in popular national magazines including Organic Gardening, Vegetarian Times and Mother Earth News. By the early 1980s, tempeh burgers were appearing in grocery stores and restaurants across the country, and Cynthia Bates had played no small part in getting them there. Since its inception in 1976, the Tempeh Lab has never closed. It is now operated by Cynthia’s daughter, Gretchen, and sells pure starter cultures around the world, on 4 continents. By the 1990s Cynthia’s tempeh business was thriving and she hired lab technicians so that she could pursue other professional and personal endeavors. A life-long student, she studied human anatomy and physiology, becoming a renowned local healer using a variety of therapies including: deep tissue massage, cranial sacral therapy, ortho-bionomy, and neuro linguistic programing. Cynthia’s hobbies included amateur nature photography and kayaking in her hand-made wooden sea kayak. She paddled her boat all over the United States, from Monterey Bay in California, to the Florida Everglades. From the Great Lakes in Michigan, to Cape Cod on the East Coast. She was an active member of the Tennessee Scenic Rivers Association, and loved to paddle and photograph the beautiful waterways and wildflowers of Tennessee. In addition to her parents, Cynthia was preceded in death by her step-mother, Janet Winkler; sister, Virginia Schafer; and nephew, Curtis Pytell. Cynthia is survived by her children, Gretchen and Will; granddaughter Brianna; and great-grandson Jeremiah; and former spouse, Albert Bates, who still carry on the family’s tradition of living with purpose. She is also survived by her brothers and sisters, Stephen Winkler, of Traverse City, Deborah Winkler, of Marquette, Dr. Michael (Cathy) Winkler, of Traverse City, Jane Winkler, of Traverse City, Mark Winkler, of Dallas, Texas, Ann (Mark) Pytell, of Clinton Township, and Jeffrey (Janine) Winkler, of Traverse City; and many aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews. A memorial service will be held at her childhood home at 860 State Street in Traverse City, MI, on Sunday, August 30, 2026, at 3 PM. In lieu of flowers, those wishing to honor her memory may send donations to Swan Conservation Trust, PO Box 162, Summertown, TN 38483. McDonald Funeral Home is honored to be assisting the Bates family.

Cynthia A. Bates

June 20, 1948 - June 23, 2026