Rosana A. Gates of Melbourne, FL died April 1, 2021. She was 98 years old. She was born Rosana Johanna Alvena Munstermann on the family farm near Lincolnville, KS on July 24, 1922. She was the fourth of five children born to William Henry Munstermann and Wilhemina Dorothea (Meyn) Munstermann.
She attended schools in Antelope and Lincolnville, KS, graduating from Lincolnville High School in 1939. She attended Kansas State Teachers College for one year. She was a teacher for two years at Cross School, a one room school near Lincolnville, while living at home and helping with the farm work there. In 1942, having decided she needed a change from two full time careers, she answered an ad for radio school in Kansas City. She had never been to the "big city" at that time. She finished the six month course at Midland Radio & Television School and became a radio telephone operator for Pennsylvania Central Airlines and Capitol Airlines from 1942 to 1949. It was one of the happiest times of her life. She handled operations and giving incoming aircraft information and even fixing an aircraft radio when the aircraft remained overnight. She served in multiple stations on the airline's route.
It was when she was working in Cleveland that she met Bryant Matthew Gates, Jr., a fellow radio operator. They were married at St. John's Lutheran Church in Lincolnville, KS on June 23, 1948. They had three sons, Dennis, Timothy, and James. In 1956, Bryant took a job with Aeronautical Radio (ARINC) in Salt Lake City, UT. Rosana stayed behind in Cleveland with a three year old and a newborn to sell the house, while Bryant started his new job, dropping their oldest son off to live with relatives in Kansas until the family settled in Salt Lake. The family lived in Salt Lake City for 9 years. It was here that Rosana developed a lifelong love of the mountains. She was the chief cook and organizer of many family trips to see the mountains and national parks of Utah. In1965 Bryant's job took him to Denver and subsequent moves took them to Texas, Illinois, and California, where Bryant retired in 1987. Throughout all these moves Rosana taught school, went to business college, worked for an insurance company and was a supervisor with the EPA. After retirement, they moved back to Arlington, TX to a house they still owned. Bryant developed Alzheimer's and in 2002 they moved to Boulder, CO to be near their son, Dennis. Bryant died in 2008. In 2015 Rosana moved to Melbourne, FL to live with son Jim and his wife, Sandra (Skoty).
Rosana is survived by her son, Dennis (wife Catherine Long) of Boulder, CO, her son, Jim and his wife Sandy of Melbourne, FL; a granddaughter, Tiffany Harmon; three great-grandsons, Devon, Caden, and Ethan Harmon all of Melbourne FL. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Bryant; son Tim; three brothers, Carl, Harvey, William; and her sister, Lucile Vahsholtz.
She was a devout Christian and was glad to tell others of her faith. She never wavered in her conviction that Jesus was her Savior. While being raised a Lutheran, she found fellowship with Christians at Lake Washington Fellowship in Melbourne where a Celebration of her Life service will be held at 2 p.m. on April 9, 2021. Due to the constraints of Covid-19, she will be cremated with burial at Lincolnville, Kansas at a later date.
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