From the moment LaVern was born on June 16, 1932 he had a servant's heart for people. He was born into a family of 16 siblings. He was second to the oldest. He learned to take care of all his younger siblings.
After high school he went into the U.S. Army and served in the Korean War. During this time his wife started becoming a pen pal to him. She picked him randomly to write letters to soldiers for encourangement. Their friendship grew into love and they married on June 27, 1955. They were married for 64 years before Jeannette went to be with the Lord forever.
During their marriage, they became ministers for the Salvation Army for many years. Vern would preach on the street corners & Jeannette would play her trumpet horn along with others to reach people's hearts for Jesus.
Then Vern decided to go to Seminary College to become an ordained minister for the Church of the Nazarene. He was a minister for different churches in Washington State. During this time he was also a chaplain for Tacoma Wahsington Firefighters.
After he retired as a minister they moved to Pennsylvania. He lived with his daughter and son-in-law. He started working for Chic-fil-a as a host for the dining room. He loved dressing up as the Cow Mascot for events. He worked for Chic-fil-a until he was 85. He lovingly then took care of his wife until she passed away in 2019.
His legacy is that he served the Lord and others his entire life. He loved life, his wife, and family. He always had a smile for everyone and loved to tell stories about his past experiences.
Surely the Lord said to him, " Well done my good and faithful servant.
LaVerne Lester Gates 91yrs , of Palm Bay F.L. passed away on Tuesday, May 28,2024. He was born in Waterloo,Iowa. He is survied by Candy Hughes(daughter) and Rick Hughes(son-in-law), Richard Gates(son) and Linda Gates(daughter-in-law), James Gates(son) and Jackie Gates(daughter-in law), Denise Poole(daughter) and Bart Poole(son-in-law), 13 beautiful Grandchildren, and 25 precious Great Grandchildren.
The commital service will be Thursday, June 27th ,10am at Fountainhead Memorial Park.
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