Ernest Dean Gath

Ernest "Ernie" Dean Gath, age 80, formerly of Marietta, died Monday morning Oct 27, 2025, in Sycamore Township, Ohio. He was born August 11, 1945, in Charleroi, Pennsylvania and grew up on Folly Farm in Rostraver Township with his father Virgil and his mother Mildred, along with his two younger brothers Phil and Dick.
His family's cross-continent driving camping trips to Alaska and Mexico City/Acapulco (where he caught a giant sailfish) helped instill in Ernie a love of adventure and travel that he would pass down to his own children.
In his youth, Ernie earned the rank of Eagle Scout with two palms, attended a National Jamboree, and trekked at Philmont Scout Reservation in New Mexico. As an adult, he served as an Assistant Scoutmaster of Troop 201 in Marietta.
He went to Marietta College and shortly after graduation married Nina, his wife of 55 years. They started their life together in Syracuse, Nebraska where he earned a master's degree in Chemistry from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. It was also in Nebraska where he began his teaching career and he and Nina had their first child Brian, before returning to Marietta, OH, where they completed their family with Brenton and Betsy.
Ernie continued his career in education at Marietta High School where he taught science, mostly Chemistry, to generations of students and brought the first Advanced Placement Chemistry class to the district. "Mr. Gath" was known for his dry sense of humor (wore Mickey Mouse ears when teaching about the water molecule), numerous puns, abundance of wild ties, and his signature filler word "um." Mr. Gath sought to help his students by sharing his home phone number for emergency homework assistance and attending national conferences during the summer to hone his teaching methods.
Another of his passions was planning and taking annual weeks-long family vacations. Ernie would pack up his family and camping supplies in their five seater white Nissan Sentra. He drove the family as far north as Algonquin Provincial Park, Canada, to hear the wolves howl, as far west as Lincoln, Nebraska to see his graduate school, and as far South as New Orleans, Louisiana where one son took pictures of the locals on Bourbon Street.
With a TripTic in hand and AAA guidebooks for all the states along the way, Ernie made sure the family stopped to visit as many Civil War Battlefields, museums, and "good places to look for rocks" as he could. Later in life, he loved traveling to Canada to go kayaking, fishing, and spending time playing games on the deck with his grandchildren in the summers.
When Ernie retired after 35 years of teaching, he continued his lifelong hobby of gardening by filling his porches and deck with summer flowers. His family would joke that watering plants was really his favorite pastime. He kept a vegetable garden for many years. Nina made him his favorite rhubarb pie each fall from his harvest. He also worked on his stamp collection that he began as a child. Ernie visited many places on his bucket list- numerous National Parks, Alaska, Hawaii, Arizona, Banff/Jasper, Scotland, and England.
Ernie was a longtime and faithful member of Christ United Methodist Church in Marietta. He served in numerous leadership positions and represented the congregation for several years as a lay delegate to the West Ohio Conference.
He also volunteered for Harvest of Hope where he began driving the truck for food pickups, joined their board, and eventually became treasurer.
Through his many adventures, Ernie always had a book in his hand just in case there was downtime.
Ernie had seven grandchildren that he loved dearly. He encouraged them all to read and gave them at least one new book for every holiday. Each summer, he and Nina would host all the grandkids for "Camp Grandma and Grandpa," a week of swimming, laughing, crafts, adventures, learning, and family.
Though he lived with Parkinson's Disease for nearly 20 years, Ernie never complained or felt sorry for himself. Even after his voice became weak, he still found a way to make his humor heard. You knew it was a good day when Ernie blessed you with a subtle joke and his famous crooked smile.
Ernie is survived by his wife Nina (Johnson); his children and their spouses Brian (Amy), Brenton (Beth), and Betsy (Steve); seven grandchildren Dunbar, Ashley, Alison, Ewan, Meredith, Jacob and Lucy; his brother Phillip; and numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents Virgil Dean Gath and Florence Mildred (Myers) Gath and his brother Richard.
His family will celebrate Ernie's life on Saturday, November 8 at St. Paul Community United Methodist Church in Cincinnati. Visitation is at 10 with a service to follow at 11. In honor of Ernie's love of God and his neighbors, the family asks that you consider a donation to Christ United Methodist Church in Marietta or the Washington County (Ohio) Harvest of Hope.