Barbara Gates
Belleville |
Barbara Sue Gates, nee McCoy, 95, of Edwardsville, IL, formally Belleville IL was born Saturday, April 12, 1930, in Altoona, PA, passed away Friday, June 13, 2025 at Meridian Village in Glen Carbon, IL surrounded by her family and friends.
Barb was an avid St. Louis Blues and Cardinals fan. She knew the players names as well as their stats. She was a loving wife, mother and friend to many. She worked as a Sales Associate for Boyd’s and Ann Taylor Clothing stores. Giving back was in her nature as she was a long-time member of St. George Episcopal Church in Belleville IL and volunteered at St. Louis Science Center, Memorial Hospital Ladies Auxiliary, Junior Service and Lewis and Clark Museum. She enjoyed beading antique style purses, wood carving birds as well as small boats with her husband, and painting pictures and decorations. Sailing was her and her husband’s passion. You could see them on their sailboat on Lake Carlyle most weekends in her prime. She was a survivor and lived a long and happy life.
She was preceded in death by her:
- Husband: Jeff A. Gates
- Parents: Richard O. and Mary Bess, nee Jackson, McCoy
- Brothers
- Richard McCoy
- Robert McCoy
Surviving are her:
- Two sons
- Jeffrey C. (Mary Ann) Gates of The Villages, FL
- Robert B. (Ramona) Gates of Troy, IL
- Sister: Diane L. (Buck) Fisk of SC
- Grandchildren
- Christen (Joe) Wall
- Steven Gates
- Kaitlin (James) Fowler
- Joshua Cole Gates
- Aymara Rivero-Bielby
- Great granddaughter: Blake Bielby
Memorials: Memorials may be made to St. George Episcopal Church in Belleville.
Services: A Celebration of Life will be planned at a later date at St George’s Episcopal Church in Belleville with burial to follow at Valhalla Gardens of Memory.
Kurrus Funeral Home
