Ordway B. Gates, Jr.

December 1, 1921 – January 12, 2011

Ordway B. Gates Jr., Army Air Corps veteran, accomplished aerospace engineer, beloved husband of Dawn N. Gates and father of eight children, died Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011. He was 89.

Born Dec. 1, 1921, Mr. Gates grew up in Chesterfield County, Va. He entered the College of William and Mary in 1939 but interrupted his education to serve in World War II as a B-17 bombardier in the 8th Air Force. Shot down in 1944, he was aided by the underground in Luxembourg and evaded capture by being hidden in homes for several months until advancing Allied forces reached the town in which he was sheltered. 

After the war, he completed his degree at William and Mary and began work in Hampton at the Langley laboratory of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the precursor of NASA. His career took him to the Glenn L. Martin Co. in Baltimore, General Electric Space Division in Philadelphia, Martin-Marietta in Baltimore and Lockheed-Martin in Lompoc, Calif., and Washington D.C.  During those years he added graduate work in engineering at the University of Virginia, Johns Hopkins University and Drexel University.  His work included many space-related projects, including the Nimbus satellite program and the Space Shuttle, as well as undersea monitoring technology and air traffic control. 

Mr. Gates retired in 1992 and soon moved to Williamsburg. He was an active member of Williamsburg United Methodist Church.  Before age and illness limited his activities, he served as a volunteer with Colonial Williamsburg, the Williamsburg-James City County court system and the Virginia Air & Space Center in Hampton.  He was also editor of the newsletter of the Virginia chapter of the 8th Air Force Historical Society.

Mr. Gates was preceded in death by his parents, Sheriff and Mrs. O.B. Gates Sr.; his first wife, Nancy Cogbill Gates; sister, Alice Gates Goodman; and granddaughters, Nancy Page Gates and Hope Marie Ward.

Survivors include his wife of 45 years, Dawn N. Gates of Williamsburg; brother, Judge Ernest P. Gates and his wife, Virginia, of Chesterfield; sons, Robert V. Gates and his wife, Beverly, of Dahlgren, Va., Richard O. Gates and his wife, Susan, of Chesterfield, Marcus H. Gates and his wife, Liz, of Columbia, Md., Ernest C. Gates and his wife, Betsy, of Williamsburg, John C. Gates and his wife, Kathy, of Havertown, Pa., and James A. Gates and his wife, Chris, of Centreville, Md.; daughters, Wendy Gates Nussbaum and her husband, Michael, of Ellicott City, Md., and the Rev. Laurie Gates Ward and her husband, Alan, of Baltimore; grandchildren, Sean Gates of Dahlgren, Caroline Gates-Shannon of Ashburn, Va., Mary-Scott Gates Hennigan of Chesterfield, Marcus Gates of Chesterfield, Matthew Gates of Columbia. Md., Patrick Gates of Columbia, Md., Sarah Gates of Brooklyn, N.Y., Martha Gates of New Haven, Conn., Thomas Gates of Arlington, Va., Nancy Leigh Gates of Havertown, Allison and Melissa Nussbaum of Ellicott City, Sgt. Matthew Machonis of Gardnerville, Nev., Michael, Alex and Emily Gates of Centreville, Md., Brady and Rebecca Ward of Baltimore, Md.; great-grandchildren, Owen and Hannah Gates of Chesterfield, Erik and Susannah Gates-Shannon of Ashburn, and Lucy Hennigan of Chesterfield; and many nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Williamsburg United Methodist Church Memorial Fund or to Hospice House and Support Care of Williamsburg.