Gates, Isabell Smith 1855-1916

GATES, SMITH

Posted By: Marilyn Holmes (email)
Date: 12/14/2012 at 07:43:28

The Grinnell (IA) Herald; June 30, 1916

MRS. GEORGE A. GATES

A woman who has greatly loved Grinnell and whom Grinnell has greatly loved, was buried in Grinnell yesterday. Mrs. George A. Gates, widow of a former president of Grinnell (then Iowa) college, rests in Hazelwood cemetery beside her husband and daughter, who had preceded her in death.

Mrs. Gates died at her home in Cambridge, Mass., early Tuesday morning, aged 61 years, 1 month and 28 days. She had been in frail health for some time, having suffered for years from asthma, and had been gradually failing until the end came. The body was brought to Grinnell by her younger son, Donald, who had been making his home with his mother in Cambridge while he attended Harvard university, and by her brother, Stanley Smith, of Syracuse, N.Y., reaching here on Wednesday night. The funeral party was met here by the older son, Stanley, who is in the employ of the Capital Trust and Savings bank of St. Paul, Minn.

Impressive funeral services were held in Herrick chapel on Thursday afternoon. The speakers were Rev. T.O. Douglass, who gave a short sketch of Mrs. Gates' life, filled with deep feeling and true friendship, and President J.H.T. Main, who spoke of her character and the place she filled in the life of Grinnell during her residence here. Rev. E.W. Cross read from the Scriptures and offered prayer. Music was furnished by a quartet made up of Leo Underwood, L.D. Hartson, Paul Proctor and D.E. Peck. Mrs. D.S. Umbenhauer, a neighbor and friend of former days, was at the organ. The pallbearers were Professor Jesse Macy, Professor H.W. Norris, Professor F.F. Almy, Professor G.P. Wyckoff, W.T. Moyle, and S.J. Pooley.

Isabel Smith was born on April 30, 1855, in Syracuse, N.Y. She was educated in the public schools of Syracuse, but did not attend college. She was married to Rev. George A. Gates, of Upper Montclair, N.J., Dec. 14, 1882. Two children were born during the family residence at Upper Montclair, Alice Bird and Stanley.

In 1887 Mr. Gates was called west to accept the presidency of Iowa college at Grinnell, where the familly home remained for thirteen years. During this time the daughter passed away, in 1895, and the second son, Donald Smith, was born.

Owing to Mrs. Gates' breakdown in health, due to asthma, Dr. Gates resigned the presidency of the college here in 1900 and moved west first to Colorado Springs, then to Cheyenne, Wyo., and finally to Claremont, Cal., where Dr. Gates was called to the presidency of Pomona college. They remained in Claremont eight years and then moved to Nashville, Tenn., where Dr. Gates took up the presidency of Fisk university, one of the leading negro institutions of the south. In 1912 Dr. Gates was in a train wreck on the Pennsylvania railroad in which he suffered internal injuries which resulted in his death Nov. 19, 1912.

Mrs. Gates, the following year, moved to Cambridge, Mass., with her two sons and continued her residence there while her son Donald attended Harvard university. After a prolonged illness of over four months during the spring of 1916, she passed away on June 27, Tuesday morning, at 2 o'clock.