Cover photo for William  And Neil Gates's Obituary
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William

William And Neil Gates

d. October 16, 2019

 

Russell Neil Gates passed away in Upland, Ca on July 22, 2019 after a brief illness.  Neil, as he was known to everyone, was born in Newton, Ks on March 5, 1939 to his parents Russell and Eva Gates.  He joined his older brothers Sid and Keith at the family home in Wichita, Ks.  A few years later the family moved to a farm near Cassoday, Ks.  They lived close to their Aunt & Uncle, Forest and Sarah Plummer and their family: Ben, Kay, Al, and June and enjoyed all the fun and mischief that young kids could get into living out in the country.  When Neil was 8 years old the family moved to a home on S.W. 4th Street in Newton.  Neil attended Washington Grade School and then Newton High School where he played football on the varsity team until a broken collar bone sidelined him.  After High School Neil joined the Air Force in 1957 and served his four years as fire rescue at Clovis, AFB in New Mexico.

After his discharge from the Air Force in 1961 Neil returned to the family home in Newton on S. E. 6th Street.  He worked in Wichita for KG&E.  Neil & Hazel Wilson, also from Newton, were married in April 1962.  After a short residence in Wichita they moved to Ontario, Ca in June of 1962.  Neil worked in Construction building new homes for several years before going to work for Hooker Headers fabricating exhaust systems for all types of Race cars.  He readily advanced to Senior Design Engineer at Hooker Headers.  Neil’s love of racing included owning a Top Fuel Dragster in 1965 that ran at the famous Fontana Drag Strip in California.  While with Hooker he ran the Baja 500 and 1000 races in a custom built Corvair powered Dune Buggy.  His long experience with all parts of an engine made him a valuable member of the design team at Hooker Headers.  Neil built the custom headers for Richard Petty and his famous Dodge Daytona Car #44.

After thirteen years at Hooker Headers Neil left there to form his own company, Gates Products, in Upland California.  He set up his shop there to manufacture the oak & chrome frames for the tops on hot rods specializing in Ford Phaeton models.  His products were second to none and always in high demand.

In 1987 Neil moved to San Juan Capistrano, Ca close to Dana Point where his sister, Nancy & her husband John were living.   Neil went to work for Yamaha Research & Development in 1988 in Cypress, CA.   While there Neil worked on many water recreation products and even built a Proto-type Motorhome for the Japanese market. After shipping it and Neil to Japan for testing Yamaha shelved the project and it was never seen again.  Neil retired from Yamaha in 2002.  After retirement Neil enjoyed spending time with his many friends and family.  Neil loved the ocean and hanging out  at beautiful Dana Point Harbor.  Neil never met a stranger and never said “No” to anyone in need of help with anything.  Neil was the best son, brother, father, uncle and friend that anyone could ever hope to have.  We will all miss him so very much but we find comfort in knowing that Neil is with our Lord and Savior for all Eternity.

Neil is survived by two Brothers, Sid Gates of Denver, Co. and Keith Gates of Elsinore, Ca., who passed away a month after Neil and one Sister, Nancy Baumann and her husband John of Hot Springs Village, Arkansas.  He and Hazel White shared three beautiful daughters:  Shellie Kolbrek of Bakersfield, Ca, Shannon Hager of Cucamonga, Ca and Leslie Rudolph of Alta Loma, Ca.  Neil also leaves six grandchildren; Chris, Cameron, Britney, Brandon, Nichole and Matt and two great-grandchildren; Madison and Harrison with loving memories of their “Papa”.

There will be a joint Memorial Service for Neil and his brother Keith at Petersen Funeral Home in Newton at 11:00AM on Friday October 18, 2019

William Keith Gates passed away

on August 27, 2019 at his home in Lake Elsinore, California. Keith, as he was known by all, was born September 2, 1936 in Loma Linda, California to his parents Russell and Eva Gates.  In 1938 his parents packed up Keith and his older brother Sid and moved back to Wichita, Kansas and then to a farm near Cassoday, Kansas.  Keith had very fond memories of growing up there with his two brothers, Sid and Neil, and his cousins that lived nearby.  In fact years later in the 1980’s he moved back from California to Cassoday and operated a Bed and Breakfast for Hunters on a farm nearby.  He also bought the feed store in Cassoday and a cabin on Fox Lake.

When Keith was eleven years old in 1947 the family moved to a home on S.W. 4th Street in  Newton, Kanasas.  He attended Washington Grade School and graduated from Newton High School in 1954.  He went on to study at Wichita University and worked for the City of Newton in the planning department. In 1955 he married Mildred Werner, also from Newton.  Keith had always dreamed of moving to California and in 1957 he and Mildred and their son Jeffrey did just that.

They settled first in Anaheim, California where Keith found work at an Engineering firm that had the contract to design the Monorail for Disneyland.  One of his projects there was to work on some problems that they were having with the Monorail design and if it had not been for Keith there probably would never have been a Monorail.  A few years later the family moved to Ontario, California where Keith became a partner in Hal Haldin & Assoc., a civil engineering firm.

In 1966 after Keith and Midge had divorced he married Jo Ann Frasz and they settled in Orange, California.  Keith was now a Real Estate Broker and Developer.  He had several projects in Southern California over the next fifteen years.  Keith and Jo Ann raised three sons while living in Orange.  Keith was the ultimate entrepreneur. He always had several projects going from land development, to building commercial real estate to residential home building. He even owned an upholstery business in Las Vegas that serviced the many casinos and restaurants there. After he lost Jo Ann to breast cancer in 2007 he retired and settled in Lake Elsinore, California where he enjoyed fishing.  Keith also had a love for prospecting and rock hounding.

He loved surf fishing over the hill in Dana Point.  Keith was a kind and loving father, brother and friend to many.  We will all miss Keith and his kind heart but we find comfort in knowing that he is with our Lord and Savior for all Eternity.

Keith is survived by one brother, Sid Gates of Denver, Colorado and one sister, Nancy Baumann and her husband John of Hot Springs Village, Arkansas.  His younger brother Neil Gates passed away just a month before Keith.  He had two children with Mildred, one  son, Jeffrey Gates who passed away in 2005 and one daughter Elizabeth Gates of Whittier, California.  He is also survived by his three sons with Jo Ann, Walter Gates and his wife Kathy of Las Vegas, Nevada, Sean Gates and his wife Karla of Costa Mesa, California and David Gates and his wife Paula of Cambria, California.  Keith also leaves four grandchildren, Sterling, Walker, Skylar and Jennifer and one great grandchild.

There will be a joint Memorial Service for Keith and his brother Neil at Petersen Funeral Home in Newton at 11:00AM on Friday October 18th, 2019.

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