Wednesday, September 26, 2001
Mr. J. Jake Gates, age 86, of Memphis, died Friday, Sept. 14, 2001, at the Memphis Veterans Medical Center.
Mr. Gates was born in Lonoke and was the son of David Gates and Nettie Witherspoon Gates. He attended Tennessee State Teachers College (now University of Memphis) and had taught in a one-room school house in Widener, and had been a principal of the Madison Public School. He was also an Army pilot during World war II and had been in a Japanese prisoner of war camp for three years. Mr. Gates received the Memphis Senior Citizen of the Year award in 1986 for his work with various charity organizations.
He is survived by his wife, Eula Mai Gates; one daughter, Marilyn Meeks of Moscow, Tenn.; one son, Jack Gates, Jr. of Collierville and five grandchildren.
Funeral services for Mr. Gates were held Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2001, at St. Luke's United Methodist Church. Burial followed in Memorial Park Cemetery.