Obituary of Edmund L. Gates, Jr.

Edmund L. Gates, Jr., ”Ted”, a loving husband of 73 years to his beloved wife, Barbara, passed after a long illness on Thursday morning, August 29, 2024.  He was 95 years old.  Ted was born in Worcester, one of two children born to Edmund and Lucy Gates.  The family resided in Shrewsbury until he was nine years old, and then they purchased a farm in Boxborough.  The farm was a true family business, and Ted learned at a very early age about hard work, responsibility, and being resourceful.  The farm had over 250 chickens and a large orchard.  Before school each morning, he would rise before dawn, tend to the chickens, do his chores, and then be off to school.  Boxborough being such a small rural community, each classroom would accommodate 2 grades of students.  He had to go to Acton to get his high school degree, which he earned in 1947.  It was in high school that he would meet his future wife, Barbara Bartlett. 

Ted found at an early age that he loved anything that had a motor.  Working on the farm, he would repair and maintain the cars, trucks, tractors, and all the machinery.  After high school he went to work for Middlesex Implement Company, where he worked on International Harvester equipment, developing a lifelong appreciation for the brand.  At the age of 26, he packed up his childhood sweetheart wife and two young twin daughters and moved to Florida to work for Indian River Farm Supply Company in Vero Beach, Florida.  After seven years in Florida, the family returned to Massachusetts and settled in Woburn.  Ted then worked as a fleet mechanic for General Oil Co. in Medford, and then Fawcett Oil Company, where he retired at the age of 65.  Never able to sit still, he “unretired” to work for Taylor and Lloyd, the International truck dealer in Bedford, delivering trucks.  He finally retired at the age of 83. 

Ted was always in perpetual motion.  As a young man, he and two friends owned a stock car that they raced in Hudson, NH, and Peabody, MA.  Ted was the mechanic and the driver.  He was a member of the International Antique Tractor Club, Chapter 18, for decades and restored a 1950’s IH Cub tractor.  He rode a motorcycle until he was 80 years old.  He loved camping with his family.  Ted also had a strong faith.  He was baptized at the Church of the Open Bible in Burlington, where his family attended for many years, and in more recent years he was a faithful attender at Salem Bible Church in Salem, NH.  Ted loved people, loved telling stories, and was always willing to lend a helping hand.  He was the person everyone turned to with a car, truck, or motor issue.  He had a huge heart and thought himself blessed to live such a long life, personally knowing his Savior, and seeing his family grow with his two daughters and their husbands, 5 grandchildren, and 14 great grandchildren. 

Ted was the beloved husband of Barbara (Bartlett) Gates.  He was the proud father of Victoria “Vicky” Bedsaul and her husband, Roger, of Woburn; and Virginia “Ginnie” Shannon of Lapeer, Michigan, formerly of Woburn and Bedford, and her late husband, Walter “Jim” Shannon.  He was the proud grandfather of Lauren Davis and her husband, Michael; Wesley Bedsaul and his wife, Joana; Ethan Bedsaul and his wife, Megan; Ian Shannon and his wife, Melanie; and Pastor Ross Shannon and his wife, Suemi.  Ted was also survived by his sister, Gertrude “Trudy” Nagy and her husband, Balint “Bill”. 

A memorial service will be held at the Salem Bible Church, www.salembible.org, on Saturday, September 7 at 11:00 a.m.  Following a light lunch at the church.  Interment will be at Mountain View Cemetery, 22 Boylston St., Shrewsbury, MA, at 2:30 p.m.  In lieu of flowers, memorials in Ted’s name may be made to the Salem Bible Church, 11 Ermer Road, Salem, NH 03079. Arrangements by the Edward V. Sullivan Funeral Home, www.sullivanfuneralhome.net, 43 Winn Street, Burlington, MA.