Tom Gates was a good friend - we played folk music together (not very well maybe, but very enthusiastically - I think you could say we had potential). We did not stay in touch after WHHS, but I did contact his sister when I heard of his death as I wondered about what had become of him. He went to DePauw University in Indiana after high school, and wrote, directed and played in a musical comedy while there. He did his four-year tour in Viet Nam, in the Air Force. Then he moved to New York City to write - and proceeded to write, and write. He eventually sold a script for a TV movie, then 3 more - so was able to live on the residuals from his writing. He ended up in Nashville, travelled a lot, and was much loved by a crew of nephews and nieces.
He died the first week of February 2016, of a fall or neurological incident - not too sure just what.
So - Tom had a rich life, although a very private one. I have good memories of a road trip he and I made to sing at a party of his sister's in Indiana, using his Mom's Ford Falcon, around about 1961 - a very liberating experience for a couple of young lads trying to sort out life.
RIP Tom - you are no doubt playing banjo in heaven.
Thanks, Howard, for posting details on Tom. I, too, was a good friend of Tom, but also have no contact after HS. My favorite memory of Tom was singing "Du, du liegst mir im Herzen" together in our little German class quartet. RIP, Tom. - Mike
Dale Lawrence
I remember Tom Gates well and appreciated his candor, humor and friendship.
Dale Lawrence
Howard Powles
Tom Gates was a good friend - we played folk music together (not very well maybe, but very enthusiastically - I think you could say we had potential). We did not stay in touch after WHHS, but I did contact his sister when I heard of his death as I wondered about what had become of him. He went to DePauw University in Indiana after high school, and wrote, directed and played in a musical comedy while there. He did his four-year tour in Viet Nam, in the Air Force. Then he moved to New York City to write - and proceeded to write, and write. He eventually sold a script for a TV movie, then 3 more - so was able to live on the residuals from his writing. He ended up in Nashville, travelled a lot, and was much loved by a crew of nephews and nieces.
He died the first week of February 2016, of a fall or neurological incident - not too sure just what.
So - Tom had a rich life, although a very private one. I have good memories of a road trip he and I made to sing at a party of his sister's in Indiana, using his Mom's Ford Falcon, around about 1961 - a very liberating experience for a couple of young lads trying to sort out life.
RIP Tom - you are no doubt playing banjo in heaven.
Michael Swenty
Thanks, Howard, for posting details on Tom. I, too, was a good friend of Tom, but also have no contact after HS. My favorite memory of Tom was singing "Du, du liegst mir im Herzen" together in our little German class quartet. RIP, Tom. - Mike