HELEN HARDCASTLE GATES

1940 - 2014

GATES, Helen Hardcastle Of Brookline, MA, died on September 5, 2014 in Sherrill House, Jamaica Plain (Boston), MA. Born into a Navy family on June 4, 1940, in Mount Vernon, NY, Helen is the daughter of Yellott Fitzhugh Hardcastle, Jr., and Edith Beardall Hardcastle. Helen grew up in Groton, MA, where her father taught physics at The Groton School. An excellent student, she attended Concord Academy in Concord, MA, where she was awarded a full academic scholarship. On a scholarship from The Smith College Club of Boston, she entered Smith College in Northampton, MA, in 1957. She made lifelong friends at Smith, majored in history, and in 1961 graduated Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude. Upon graduating, she taught history at The Rosemary Hall School in Greenwich, CT, and studied for a Masters in History at Columbia University in New York City before marrying medical student Christopher Gates of Suffield, CT in 1963. She completed a Masters of Arts and Teaching (MAT) at Yale University on a Ford Foundation fellowship in 1964, and in 1965 taught history at the North Haven High School in North Haven, CT. Later that year she moved to Cleveland, OH, with her husband and taught history at The Hathaway Brown School in Shaker Heights. The couple relocated to Brookline, MA, in 1966, started a family, and have lived in Brookline ever since. While raising three children, Helen also found time to volunteer at The League of Women Voters, The Brookline Friends of the Library, the library at Trinity Church, Boston, and Sherrill House, a rehabilitation and skilled nursing facility in Jamaica Plain. She loved books and was an avid reader. In 1982 she completed a Masters of Library Science degree (MLS) at Simmons College in Boston, and later that year Thayer Academy in Braintree, MA, hired her as history teacher. As the years went by she gradually took on school librarian duties as well and retired in 2002. Helen enjoyed her grandchildren during this new chapter of her life. She guided tours at Trinity Church and joined The Brookline Garden Club, The Emory Bag of Brookline, The Chilton Club, and Nucleus, both of Boston. She studied opera and German and expanded her volunteer work at Sherrill House, where she was made Chair of The Resident Care Committee and later, member of The Board of Trustees. She provided books for Sherrill House residents and discussed literature with them, becoming a beloved member of the Sherrill House community. Upon her retirement in June 2014, after her 35 years of service as a volunteer and later as a Trustee, Sherrill House named its library the Helen Hardcastle Gates Library. Helen has been an inspiration to friends, family, and everyone who knew her, never more so than during the past five years when she battled cancer. She was stalwart. She is survived by her husband Christopher Gates, MD, her daughter Holly Russell of Darien, CT, her daughter Sarah Gates, MD, of Concord, MA, her son John Gates, of Concord, MA, and 8 loving grandchildren. Her uncle Geoffrey Beardall of Winter Park, FLA, also survives her, as do her brother Hugh Hardcastle of Bailey Island, ME, her sister Edith Vaughan of South Bristol, ME, her brother Edmund Hardcastle of Ocean Pines, MD, and many loving nieces, nephews, and cousins. In lieu of flowers, donations in Helen's honor may be sent to Sherrill House Inc., Development Office, 135 South Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA, 02130. A memorial service for her will be celebrated 2 pm Friday October 3 at Trinity Church, Copley Square, Boston, MA. bellodeafuneralhome.com