Christopher Charles Gates

Christopher C. Gates died peacefully in St. Augustine, Florida on December 6 at the age of 66. Christopher is survived by his wife Paula; his children, Elias, Jesse, and Aaron; his siblings, Cyndie Urso, Timothy Gates, Rebecca Fowler, and Erik Gates and many nieces and nephews. He had 9 grandchildren: Elias/Karen, Ethan, Katherine and Aiden. Jesse/Melissa, Peyton, Grayson, Marian and Harrison. Aaron/Nicole, Daniel and Alexandria. Christopher was born on July 13, 1953 in Elgin, Illinois to Clarence “Ike” Gates and Mary Annell. He graduated from West High school in 1971. He married Paula, his high school sweetheart in 1973. He worked at Gates-Rockwell in Corning, New York with his parents and siblings for many years. In 1982, his parents died, and he pursued a lifelong dream of studying the Great Books of Western Civilization. He was accepted to the University of Notre Dame at the age of 31 in 1983. He moved his family to Niles, Michigan in 1984 and earned his BA in the Program of Liberal Studies, Magna Cum Lauda in 1987 and his MA in English Literature in 1988. He then returned to Painted Post and worked at Gates-Rockwell until it closed in 1992. From that point he shared his love of learning at high schools in Corning, New York and Spencer Van Etten. In 1998 he moved to Florida where he resided with Paula for the rest of his life. Most of this time was spent in St. Augustine. During these years he taught at Palatka High School and St. Johns River until he became permanently disabled in 2012. He enjoyed his final years in his library reading Eric Voegelin, Thomas Aquinas, St. Augustine, G.K. Chesterton and many biblical scholars. He loved his time at the beach with Paula, his sons and grandchildren. A funeral is scheduled for 9:00 am on Friday, December 13, 2019 at St. Anastasia Catholic Church, with an open house to follow at Jesse Gates’ home at 1440 Corunna Street, St. Augustine from 2pm to 5pm. Father Kaminsky and Father Rev. Timothy M. Lindenfelser will officiate the ceremony. All are welcome to attend and celebrate Christopher’s life. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the American Cancer Society or the Eric Voegelin Institute. https://sites01.lsu.edu/faculty/voegelin/please-donate-to-the-eric-voegelin-institute/ https://www.cancer.org/involved/donate/memorial-giving.html

Christopher Charles Gates

July 13, 1953 - December 6, 2019