Marabel Gates

Marabel F Gates, 97, passed away peacefully in living faith on April 1, 2022. She was born July 27, 1924, in Sheridan, WY.  She was a lifelong member of the Old Apostolic Lutheran Church. 

She was born to Fred R and Frances S (Roberts) Blakeman, the eldest of 14 children. The family was raised in the Crook County area of Wyoming. She graduated from Moorcroft High School in 1941 and went to Black Hills State Teachers College in Spearfish for a year. She received her certificate to teach school for three years, which she did in Wyoming at country schools. 

Marabel married Leo W. Gates on December 23, 1943. They had five children, born, and raised in Wyoming: Francie, Robert, Maralee, Virginia, and Lynn. The family lived in Cheyenne for 10 years where Marabel worked for the State of Wyoming in the Capital Building. From there they moved to Casper, where Leo died in 1985. They enjoyed many hunting and fishing trips together.

Marabel moved to Sheridan in 1989. She clerked for Weight Watchers for over 35 years and also volunteered at the hospital gift shop. She enjoyed sewing and quilting and was an avid walker. She was always interested in people and her community. She never met a stranger and befriended everyone she met. She was loved by friends of all ages and will be greatly missed. 

Marabel’s faith and her family and Christian friends were of paramount importance to her.

She was preceded in death by her husband and her parents and seven brothers and three sisters, as well as three of her children, Francie Lobstein, Robert Gates, and Maralee Koch Smith, and two sons-in-law, Glynn Lobstein and Michael Homola, and two grandchildren. Her brothers preceding her in death, all Blakeman’s, were James, Robert, Richard, Kenneth, Benjamin, Theodore, and Calvin. Her sisters were Lois Morgan, and two baby sisters, Elaine and Lillian.

Marabel is survived by two daughters, Virginia Lipka of Rock Springs, WY, and Lynn Homola of Battle Ground, WA, as well as 26 grandchildren and 55 great-grandchildren, and 7 great-great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her sister Ima (with husband Frank) Massie of Spearfish, SD, and two brothers, Dallas (with wife Midge) Blakeman of Houghton, MI, and Tom (with wife Lynn) Blakeman of Tucson, AZ and sister-in-law Edith Blakeman of Sheridan, WY.

A visitation will be held Tuesday evening from 6:30 to 8:00 pm at The Old Apostolic Lutheran Church at 111 Metz Road, Sheridan, WY.  The funeral service will be held Wednesday, April 6, at 10 am at the same location. Burial will be in Moorcroft, WY cemetery at 3:00 pm that afternoon.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Old Apostolic Lutheran Church of Sheridan, 111 Metz Road, Sheridan, WY, or The Hub (Sheridan Senior Center) 211 Smith Street, Sheridan, WY, 82801.

Online condolences may be made to www.sheridanfuneral.com. Arrangements are under the care of Sheridan Funeral Home.