Edmond ""Eddie"" Gates

1928 - 2021

Edmond "Eddie" Gates was born on April 23, 1928 in Strong City, Oklahoma to Edmond and Ruby Ellis Gates. Eddie stepped into Heaven in the early morning of March 19, 2021. He is preceded by his son Truett (& Diane), great, great granddaughter Harvee Grace Dena, mother Ruby Ellis Pollock, father & stepmother Blanche, his older brother Raymond (& Dena), stepsister Betty (& Al) Booth and many others thru the years.
He is survived by his wife Edna Rose "Patsy", daughters Suzan Vann of Borger, Texas and Jan Switzer of Corpus Christi, Texas, son Mickey (Susan) Gates of Hot Springs, Arkansas, and foster daughter Linda (Jerry) Dawson of Jackson, Tennessee. Also left loving him are 12 Grandchildren, 20 Great Grandchildren, 3 Great-Great Grandchildren, 2 Foster Grandchildren, sister-in-law, Kitty White Arnold of Boyd, Texas, a brother-in-law Otis White of Pampa, Texas and many nephews, nieces, cousins, and many friends he considered family.
Eddie was born in Strong City, Oklahoma, population 350. Shortly after his birth, the family moved to Cordell, Oklahoma. When Eddie was about 8 months old, his mother took he and his brother Raymond and moved to Pampa, Texas to live.
At age 4 Eddie and Raymond went to live with their father in Cordell. We suspect that when his dad registered him for school that his father told the school his middle name was "Ardell", when in fact it was "Odell". We also assume that his dad told them his birth date was April 22, 1928 and not the 23rd. We base these assumptions on the fact that dad never saw his birth certificate until he was an adult. He used "Ardell" as his middle name and used April 22, 1928 as his birth date until…. just a few days before his leaving us.
At age 12, Eddie started to work in the meat market of United Supermarket in Cordell, OK on Sept 6, 1940. (may have been called Public Warehouse Grocery) Dad distinctly remembers them deducting taxes from his weekly paycheck. Early every morning he and his brother milked cows for a local dairy and when finished he walked to the meat market. He would then walk to school and then walk back to work after school. He often worked late each night till around 8pm or 9pm. On the weekend he worked as a cowboy herding the cattle that was processed and sold in the meat market where he worked.
On February 2, 1946, when Eddie was 17 year, 9 months, and 14 days old he enlisted in the US Army. The US Army required proof of his age since he was so young. After basic training he served as a pay clerk for officers. When he was Honorably Discharged, he was a Corporal stationed with Squadron A 3705th Army Air Forces Base Unit, Lowry Field, Colorado.
Eddie moved to Pampa, Texas where he met and married the love of his life, Edna Rose (Patsy) White on August 17, 1951. Their marriage license shows Edmond "Ardell" Gates. They were married by Rev. Wayne White, Patsy's oldest brother. There in Pampa, three of the first four children were born.
One year and 6 months into marriage, their first child was born. Eddie Truett was born on Feb. 17, 1953. Truett would grow up to follow in his father's footsteps by volunteering in the US Army. After his service in Vietnam, he was Honorably Discharged and moved to Indiana. It was there he fell in love and married an incredible red head named Diane. He brought her home to Texas and the entire Gates family fell in love with her. Truett passed away Sept 28, 2017 due to complications from exposure to "Agent Orange" while in Vietnam. Truett and Diane's 3 children, Tony, Stephanie, and Jacob, along with their families all reside in Borger, Texas area.
One year and 3 months later, on May 23, 1954, the Gates family welcomed Suzan Lynn to the family. With Suzan's arrival, came the couple's first daughter. Suzan got married and raised 3 children, first in Borger, Tx and then moving to Hot Springs, AR in the early 1980's. It was in Arkansas that her children grew into adulthood. Susan's oldest two children, Israel Vann and Amy Vann Hicks reside with their families in Hot Springs, AR and her youngest, Joshua Vann and his family live in Fritch, TX.
Janice Loraine came along two years later, on June 30, 1956. After getting married, she and her family moved from the panhandle of Texas down to Corpus Christi. Her children Elizabeth, Steven, and Samantha along with their families live in the Corpus area. Jan is a flight attendant for Southwest Airline and is based out of Houston, Texas.
The Gates family moved from Pampa to Spearman in 1957 where Eddie managed the meat department of Ideal Grocery. Then for eight years, Eddie worked for Golden Spread.
It was in Spearman that Michael Wayne "Mickey" snuck into the family on March 6, 1960. Mickey spent his last three years of high school in Borger. Then after living in Dallas two years, he moved to Hot Springs, Arkansas. There along with his wife, Susan, they raised their daughter Elizabeth and son Benjamin who both live in the area. Mickey is owner of The Stonebridge Collection in Hot Springs.
It was in the mid 1950's, Eddie and Patsy welcomed a foster daughter, Linda Hill into their home after Linda's mother's health prevented taking care of her and her siblings. Linda, husband Jerry Dawson and 2 sons spent most of their years in Parsons, Kansas but retired to Jackson, Tennessee. Their son Brian and family mostly live in the Jackson area and Rick and his family live in Indiana.
The family lived in Spearman until 1975 when they purchased Borger Meats in Borger, Texas. Eddie loved bowling, fishing, and golf. In 2016 he and Patsy moved to Hot Springs, Arkansas where he never got tired of watching the rain and watch the hummingbirds he fed! Eddie loved Jesus, Patsy, his wife of 69 years, his children and their children, and people that came into his life. People loved and respected him in return. He never met a stranger and never talked bad about others. He was compassionate and kind to all.
With each move Eddie made, he thought it would be his last, so he settled in and was content. A few months ago, he began to be discontent with this earthly home and was ready to go to his final residence. His relationship with Jesus was the founding principles on which he lived his life. He loved his God with all his heart, soul and body AND he loved people as himself. He always said, "When I made Jesus Lord, He gave me a ticket to Heaven. When the Good Lord is ready for me, He will punch my ticket and I'm not leaving one minute before he does punch it."
In the early morning hours of March 19, 2021, Eddie was soundly asleep in his bed. At 4:36am The Great Conductor, called Eddie's name. He said to him, "Eddie, my son, my good and faithful son. You have done well, and you have been faithful over a few things, I will now make you ruler over many things: come with me, enter into my joy. Son, I'm punching your ticket".
Dad's ticket has been punched!
A Celebration of Life was held on Hot Springs, Arkansas on March 27, 2021 with family and Arkansas friends.
The family is inviting friends for a final Celebration of Life on April 10, 2021, at 2:00pm at Cofield Community Center, 1116 Brain Street, Borger. Family will be at 1312 Tejas Dr in Borger. Dress casual. See Facebook Event.