Norma Fae King Gates

Funeral services for Norma Fae King Gates, 92, will be held at 12:00 p.m. Tuesday, December 27, 2022 at Rose-Neath Funeral Home, 2500 Southside Dr., Shreveport, Louisiana. A visitation will be held from 11:00 a.m. until time of service. Burial will follow at Forest Park West Cemetery in Shreveport, Louisiana. Officiating the service will be Brother Randy Johnson.

Norma was a high school graduate from Fair Park High School in Shreveport, Louisiana.  She attended Meadows-Draughn Business College and entered the work field at the Louisiana Ordinance Plant in Minden, Louisiana as a secretary and later became the office manager for Dr. Ollie Williams.  Her hobbies were cooking, sewing, designing and creating stained glass, directing church choir and teaching music.  Her greatest passion was teaching children how to sing and sharing their voices with audiences in churches and nursing homes.  She loved studying the bible and its history of characters and telling bible stories to be passed down through her family.

Norma Fae’s family lovingly called her Meme.  She spent her summers teaching “the kids” how to sew, macramé, cook, play the piano and even homeschooled 2 of her great-grandchildren.  There was never a day of boredom at Meme’s house.

Fae was married in 1949 to Ted Gates, husband and best friend for 72 years.  She raised their 3 children, daughter Linda, daughter Cynthia, and son, Jerry, in Keithville, Louisiana on a 5 acre homestead she and Ted built from the ground up.  There they raised horses, cows, pigs, and chickens, many of them for competition in 4-H projects.

Fae’s family grew to 28 descendents: 3 children, 7 grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren and 4 great-great-grandchildren. 

Norma Fae is preceded in death by her husband, Ted Gates; brother, Byron King and wife, Bonnie King, brother, Arnold King and brothers-in-law, Charles Carpenter and Joe Wade. Left to cherish her memory are sisters Melba King Wade and Laura King Carpenter.

Honoring Norma as pallbearers will be Keith McMellon, Kevin Gates, Ryan Gates, Tristen Moore, Stan Wade, and Kenny King. Serving as honorary pallbearers will be Zachary Mathews, Ronald King, Steve Carpenter, Warren Allen Williams, and Ken Shepherd.