Gail Oberlin Bates

1917 - 2020

EXETER - Gail Oberlin Bates, a longtime resident of Exeter, died peacefully on Friday, August 21, 2020. She had suffered a stroke a few days before. She was 103.

Born in 1917 in Cleveland, Ohio, Gail attended the Hathaway Brown School and Vassar College. She majored in Italian language and literature, minored in art history, and studied for a year at the University of Florence in Italy. She later earned a master's degree in social work from Columbia University.

Gail's interests were many and her experiences challenging. After graduating from college, she co-led cycling and hiking trips in Europe for high school students. From 1943 to 1945, during World War II, she served in the American Red Cross, stationed overseas with the Ninth Air Force in England, France, and, after D-Day, in Germany. She subsequently worked at the American Alpine Club in its New York City headquarters, where she met Robert H. Bates, whom she married in 1954.

With her husband, who taught English literature at Phillips Exeter Academy, Gail welcomed numerous students, families, climbers, explorers, and educators from all over the world to their house on High Street. In 1962, she lived and worked in Kathmandu, Nepal, where Bob was director of Nepal's first group of Peace Corps volunteers. "She was our Peace Corps mother," recalled one volunteer fondly. Throughout their marriage, Bob and Gail traveled extensively, forming lifelong friendships, always seeing the good in people, and sharing experiences that became a common storehouse of interesting, funny, and unexpected stories. Their deep interests Nepal and Tibet continued throughout both their lives.

An avid gardener and passionate supporter of many environmental and political causes, Gail was in the forefront of the movement to conserve land in New Hampshire. She helped preserve the Dudley House on Front Street in Exeter from demolition in 1971. She helped conservancies increase their protected lands, locally and nationally. In addition to the American Alpine Club, she was also active in the Exeter Historical Society, the Kensington Public Library, and the Harvard Travellers Club. Always with amusing stories and hard-headed practical advice, she firmly nurtured new generations of conservators, voters, and latent activists. She will be missed by many.

Gifts in honor of Gail may be made to the Southeast Land Trust (SELT), 6 Center St., Exeter, N.H.

SERVICES: A memorial service will be planned for next summer. www.brewittfuneralhome.com.