Barbara Ann Gates
Barbara Ann (Green) Gates, 92, passed away on Oct. 22, 2020 at her Fort Pierce, Florida home. She was also a 43-year resident in Highlands.
Barbara, known lovingly to her grandchildren as “Bege,” was born in Painesville, Ohio, on Friday, April 13, 1928 and moved to Florida in 1943.
A former runner-up for Miss Fort Pierce, Barbara was an avid golfer, tennis player, swimmer, skier, and bridge player. She was the founding member of the Pelican Yacht Club and a member of Indian Hills and Highlands Falls country clubs. She took great pleasure in enjoying travel and the arts with her beloved husband, a well-known Florida citrus grower and civic leader Philip “Phil” C. Gates.
Barbara dedicated herself to the community through youth and church services and was widely recognized for her outstanding leadership. She served as chair of the United Fund Home Division and Florida Chain of Missions and was president of the Fort Pierce Philanthropic Educational Organization.
Barbara was twice named president of the State Welfare Board’s District 10 by Governors Collins and Bryant.
A staunch believer in the importance of education, Barbara helped found a school at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Fort Pierce. Through fundraising efforts, the dream of a day school became a reality with the opening of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Academy in 1970, where Barbara served on the first school board establishing curriculum and policies.
Barbara was preceded in death by her husband of 58 years, Philip C. Gates; her parents, Shalor and Marie Villetta (Moodie) Green; her twin sister, Patricia Green; and her granddaughter, Marina Gates.
Survivors include her children, Philip “Flip” C. Gates, Jr., of Fort Pierce, Florida and Highlands, North Carolina; John K. Gates of Jensen Beach, Florida; David S. Gates and his wife Diane of Fort Pierce, Florida; and Harriet Gates Kretschmer and her husband Mike of Palm Coast, Florida.
Other survivors include her grandchildren, Philip Gates, III; Kristin Gates Murray; Carly Gates; Mira Gates Garwood; Jesse Gates; Dana Gates; and sixteen great-and great-great-grandchildren.
There will be a memorial service at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Fort Pierce, Florida, on Saturday, October 31, 2020, at 10:00 a.m. Burial will follow at Hillcrest Memorial Gardens in Fort Pierce, Florida.
In lieu of flowers, a donation may be made in Barbara’s memory to one of her favorite organizations: St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church/St. Andrew’s Episcopal Academy, both at 210 S. Indian River Drive, Fort Pierce, Florida 34950, or PEO Chapter AR Education Projects, c/o Mimi Brown, 3117 S. Indian River Drive, Fort Pierce, Florida 34982.