Raised in Tribute:
$871.00Gregory Lynn Gates, known to many as Greg and to some as "Bullet" or "Roothog", was born in Indianapolis, Indiana in April 1949. He was the youngest child of Don and Ruth Gates, born 9 years after his brother Don and 6 years after his sister Marilyn. Greg was an avid sports fan from a young age and tried his hand at basketball, baseball, and wrestling before settling for his true and absolute love - football. Football was a defining element in Greg's life; it taught him teamwork, discipline, and reinforced the idea that if he just ran hard enough at a problem he'd eventually get to his goal.
These principles served him well in high school - Bishop Watterson in Columbus, Ohio - where his football team won the State Championships during his senior year in 1966 when he was co-Captain of the team. He then went on to Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio where he played football, partied with his Alpha Tau Omega brothers, and occasionally went to class. Wittenberg required a 2.1 GPA to graduate, and Greg graduated with a 2.4 in 1971 which he proudly proclaimed was "extra" to the requirements.
After being the first in his family to graduate from university, Greg moved to Chicago to work with his father at Unitog selling work uniforms. In December 1972, his father died of a sudden heart attack on the tennis court leaving Greg bereft. Greg sought to model the qualities that he admired in his father, William Donald Gates, speaking of his intelligence, generosity, and leadership abilities regularly for the rest of his life. Don's death, a defining tragedy in Greg's life, led him to move to Florissant, Missouri to work for the Unitog branch there.
Greg was playing tennis one sunny day in June 1973 in Florissant when he spotted a red-headed vision sitting in the lifeguard chair of the adjacent pool. Always a man of courage and purpose, he went to speak to this beauty who was not impressed by his tennis attire, full grey sweats and black high-top tennis shoes. Undaunted, Greg turned on the salesman charm even proposing to Kendra on their second date by tossing a ring box at her in her parents' garage. After getting over her initial horror of this botched proposal, Kendra finally accepted Greg's proposal in August 1973 and they were married a mere 3.5 months later.
Greg and Kendra moved to Kansas City in the summer of 1974 for a further opportunity with Unitog, and one year later son William Paul Gates (Billy or Will) was born. While in Kansas City, Greg took up a training opportunity with Lincoln National Life Insurance to learn business insurance brokerage skills, leading to a life-long career in the industry. Greg and his family followed several brokerage opportunities before moving to the South Hills of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in June 1978, only 10 days before daughter Kendra Eleanore Gates (Kelly) was born. A mere year later, son Seth Merrill Gates (Seth) was born in 1979, completing Greg's family. Greg transferred to Henderson Brothers Brokerage in Pittsburgh in 1986 and remained with them for 13 years where he established his reputation as a fierce salesman and a mentor for young business people.
In 1999, after all 3 children had left to attend university, Greg and Kendra moved around the USA with different senior executive brokerage opportunities (Bloomington, Minnesota; Champaign, Illinois; and Albuquerque, New Mexico). Greg finally landed in Casa Grande, Arizona in 2004, working for the Mahoney Group as President until 2008 when he took an opportunity with the Leavitt Group as their Executive Vice President. This role took him around western US states supporting Leavitt offices and mentoring young sales people and management to improve production. Greg retired with Kendra to Albuquerque, New Mexico, finally taking his leave of Leavitt Group in 2019 after 11 years of service.
Greg was a quintessential businessman, and very proud of his career and all the relationships he developed. But he was also a dedicated father, grandfather, and husband, a dog and Motown lover, a runner, a man of intense integrity, and a self-proclaimed “lean, mean fighting machine”. Greg's battle with alcoholism started at a young age, leading to a few major incidents for which he turned to his father for help. Each time, Don showed Greg compassion and supported him to put things right. Greg always sought to emulate this generosity, both financial and emotional. Greg finally got completely sober in April 1982 with the help of Alcoholics Anonymous and God, sparking a life-long dedication to the Church and charity work that helped people get a second chance. Greg was on the Boards for the Red Cross, the Box Project, and A Peaceful Habitation. One of the most important things Greg always instilled in his children was that life was always about your "attitude and effort", which his children continue to emulate from his and Kendra's examples.
Greg was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in September 2015 and began exhibiting signs of Parkinson's Disease Dementia in 2017. However, a lifetime of persistence, determination, and intense focus meant that Greg kept running headlong at these problems to meet his goals. The pandemic, combined with the worsening effects of Parkinson's, slowed him down until he couldn't run anymore. His decline was rapid after this, finally leaving us in April 2023 only 8 days after his 74th birthday, 4 days after his 41st sober birthday, and 7 months shy of his 50th wedding anniversary with Kendra.
Greg is survived and will be missed by his wife Kendra, his two sons William Gates and Seth Gates (Lindsay), his daughter Kendra/Kelly Derousseau (Frederic), and grandchildren Eva, Gretchen, Simon, Cora, Laine, and Hazel.
The Michael J. Fox Foundation is dedicated to finding a cure for Parkinson's disease and to ensuring the development of improved therapies for those living with Parkinson's today. The Foundation is the world's largest nonprofit funder of Parkinson's research, with more than $800 million in high-impact research funded to date.
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