Vergine Gates

Memorial services are scheduled at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, August 28, 2010 at First Presbyterian Church in Artesia for former longtime Artesia resident Vergine Gates.

Mrs. Gates, 92, of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, passed away on Tuesday, August 3, 2010, in the Hempfield Manor Nursing Home. Family interment of ashes will precede the service at Woodbine Cemetery.

Vergine was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on November 18, 1917 the daughter of Edgar Russell and Gladys Coffey Russell.

Mrs. Gates was a graduate of Casper High School, in Wyoming, and attended the Lamont School of Music, in Denver Colorado, and Occidental College, in Los Angeles, California. She was an accomplished pianist, performing in numerous sites in Texas and New Mexico. Mrs. Gates taught piano for over 50 years to many students, some of whom were recognized nationally for their music. She was also a church organist in churches large and small, in San Antonio, Texas, holding that position at the First Presbyterian Church in Artesia, New Mexico, for more than 40 years, until her retirement.

Mrs. Gates was a member of the New Mexico Music Teachers Association and served as its State President she was its Teacher of the Year in 1973. She was a council member of the Southwest Division of the National Music Teachers Association. She was a wellrespected Adjudicator for music festivals, competitions and auditions all over New Mexico and Texas. Mrs. Gates was the Moderator of the Sierra Blanca Presbytery and Council, a member of the PCUSA National Hunger Committee, chair of the Border Health Advocacy for Sierra Blanca Presbytery, and a delegate to the Synod of the Southwest. She was the president and organizer of the Artesia Meals on Wheels for 25 years, the Artesia Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year, the AARP Volunteer of the Year and a lifelong and devoted member of PEO.

In addition to her parents, Mrs. Gates was preceded in death by her husband, Wallace, and their daughter, Linda.

Mrs. Gates is survived by her two sons, Russ Gates and his wife, Lenore, of Perkiomenville, PA, and Bill Gates and his wife, Sue, of Greensburg, PA four grandchildren, Adam Gates and his wife, Leslie, of Perkiomenville, David Gates and his fiance, Filomena Martinelli, of Brooklyn, NY, Alison Layman and her husband, Mike, of Lexington, KY, and Christopher Gates and his fiance. Brittany Rowe, of Cleveland, TN and one great granddaughter, Emily Gates, of Perkiomenville.

The family requests memorial contributions be made to Meals on Wheels, P.O. Box 208, Artesia, NM 88211.