Obituary of Roy Roger Gates

Roy Roger Gates, 93, passed away October 31, 2017.

Graveside Service: 1:15 p.m. Tuesday, November 7, at Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery, 2000 Mountain Creek Pkwy., Dallas, TX.

Roy was born February 16, 1924. He was the last survivor of Ralph and Libby Gates. Roy spent his youth on a farm in Little Pine, Minnesota. He joined the Navy at seventeen and was stationed on a destroyer which was sunk by a German submarine, off the coast of France. Roy was rescued along with the other survivors after 27 hours in the icy waters. At the end of World War II it was back to Minnesota until 1947, when he joined the Air Force and was stationed at Carswell Air Force Base for twelve years. Roy worked on B-36’s and B-52’s. Roy was also stationed in New Mexico, El Paso, Japan and Vietnam.

Survivors: Wife of 64 years, Idella Hammons Gates; niece, Wanda Fletcher of Emily, MN; daughters, Debbie Collyer of Saginaw, TX, Dianne Parks (Dart) of Minnesota; son, Roger (Lisa); and grandsons, Ryan and Tyler of Arlington, TX; brother-in-law, Donald Hammons (Jeanette).