Obituary: Gates, Louis B. “Joe”
GATES, Louis B.
“Joe”
Joe peacefully passed away on Christmas Day with family by his side and a full moon overhead.
He was preceded in death by his wife of almost 74 years, Jane Gates, in May of 2014 and his sister, Mary Gates Dewey of Athens, Ohio in December 2013.
Fortunately, Alzheimer’s kept him unaware of his loss.
Joe and Jane moved to Spokane after Joe served in the Pacific with the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers building air bases during World War II.
His first job in Spokane was at a jewelry store where he hoped to learn the skills to open his own gift shop.
It didn’t take him long to realize that retail was not the route he wanted to go and so he began a 42 year career as an independent agent for State Farm Insurance Companies.
For many years his office was located at 311 W. Indiana.
Joe enjoyed helping his policyholders with their insurance needs and getting to know them as individuals.
Many of their close friends were policyholders first.
Joe’s hobby was working in silver.
It began during the war when he would swim out to the reefs and collect shells.
Jane mailed him plastic findings for him to make earrings for his fellow servicemen to send home to their wives and girlfriends (metal was reserved for the war effort).
After the war they moved to Spokane where he set up a work bench in their home and began designing and fabricating silver jewelry that he sold or gave away as gifts.
He was quite prolific until 2009 when confusion began setting in.
Joe was an avid snow skier.
He and Jane learned to ski in the late 1940’s and spent every day they could skiing…especially if there was fresh powder snow!
Mt.
Spokane was their home mountain and there is a run named after them, “Gates Park”.
It is a glen of trees where you could see Joe skiing through the trees with his trademark red hat and Jane close behind.
Although Jane stopped skiing in the early 90’s, Joe continued through the 2008-2009 season.
The also loved their cabin on Spirit Lake in Idaho.
They bought the property in the late 50’s and Joe designed and built a series of cabins for the family.
Dad was not an electrician but he did have a theory… when he stopped blowing fuses, he figured he had it wired correctly.
The lake was a place where there was lots of laughter because, besides being funny and fun-loving, dad loved pulling pranks on and with their friends.
Dad didn’t mind being on the receiving end either.
Mom and dad spent every summer at the lake through 2009.
Beginning in 1971 Joe and Jane began traveling to foreign countries.
Their favorite spot was a guest house next to a vineyard just outside Girasole, Italy.
They went there for almost 20 years, exploring the hill towns, discovering new restaurants and returning to old favorites.
They also made sure that the Italian wineries were still producing good wine!
They trekked in Nepal twice, climbed to Machu Picchu in Peru, saw an eclipse of the sun in Egypt and traveled on a container ship from Australia back to the U.S.
They once flew around the world stopping in many cities to take in the sights.
For their 50th wedding anniversary they took their family on a barge trip in France and then a Windjammer Cruise in the Caribbean for their 60th.
They were blessed with a life full of love, laughter and adventure.
Joe and Jane were moved into Pine Ridge Alzheimer’s Special Care Center in December 2009 after they proved that they could no longer be trusted to keep themselves or the public safe.
The family is greatly indebted to Pine Ridge for the love and wonderful care that they gave our parents.
Joe and Jane are survived by their two daughters, Shelby and Susan and their husbands, two grandsons and their wives and a great-grandson due at the end of April.
At their request, Joe and Jane will have no service but wanted their ashes scattered together by the family.
Dad always said that he was going to come back as an Italian.
To all their friends: please have a bowl of pasta, and toast mom and dad with your favorite Italian wine.
Salute!
The family thanks you all for your love and support over the years.