Kimbal A. Gates 1925-2013

GATES, NEBERGALL, DUNLAP, RIGEL

Posted By: Cheryl Locher Moonen (email)
Date: 11/9/2015 at 18:06:35

HOPKINTON, Iowa - Kimbal Gates, 88, of Hopkinton, died Monday evening, Sept. 2, 2013, at Good Neighbor Home, Manchester, surrounded by his family.

Graveside services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Sept. 6, at Hopkinton Cemetery, where military rites will be accorded. A life celebration service of memories and memorials will be held at 11 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 7, at Hopkinton Community Church, with a time of food and fellowship to follow. The Rev. Kim Gates and Pastor Cheryl Gates are officiating at the services. All are welcome to both services. Goettsch Funeral Home, Hopkinton, is assisting the family. If you have Hawkeye or John Deere apparel, please wear it to the graveside service.

Kimbal Allen Gates was born on Feb. 26, 1925, at the family home in Washington, son of Leslie and Edith Nebergall Gates. He graduated from Washington High School in 1942.

Kimbal farmed for a year before enlisting in the Marine Corps in December 1943. He served in the Pacific Theater during World War II. He fought in battles on Guadalcanal and Okinawa. He was discharged from service in May 1946.

In 1947, Kimbal spent a brief time working in a meat packing plant in Albany, Ore. On Dec. 1, 1947, Kimbal, his brother Robert and their father Leslie began operating Gates Implement in Kalona, a John Deere and Chevrolet dealership.

Kimbal married Shirley Dunlap on Sept. 19, 1948, in Washington, Iowa.

The Gates family sold the business in Kalona in December 1957 and moved to Hopkinton in 1958, where they farmed. Kimbal retired from active farming in 1984, and true retirement came in 1992. He kept busy doing woodworking, cutting wood and taking care of miles of fence.

Kimbal gave of his time off the farm as well. He was a church trustee, served on the Delaware Co. Extension Council, the Delaware County Memorial Hospital Board, the Maquoketa Valley School Board and the Volunteers in Mission. He helped build churches, schools and hospitals in Belize, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico and Antigua, among others.

Kimbal also enjoyed traveling, spending time with his family, playing cards and board games, following the Iowa Hawkeyes and Chicago Cubs.

Surviving are his wife Shirley; four children, Lynne (Dennis) Rigel, of Waterloo, Bill (Michelle) Gates, of Dubuque, Gary (Cheryl) Gates, of Hopkinton, and Kim Gates, of Traer; seven grandchildren; four great-grandsons and four nieces.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his brother, Robert; sister-in-law, Gayle; and a nephew, D.J. Gates.

The family requests no flowers. A memorial fund is being established.

Online condolences may be left for the family at www.goettschonline.com.

The family would like to thank the doctors of Regional Medical Center, Above and Beyond Hospice and the staff at Good Neighbor Home Society.

Telegraph Herald (Dubuque, IA) - Thursday, September 5, 2013