Linda Dale Gates, passed away on November 9th, 2022.

GATES—Linda Dale Gates, dedicated daughter, mother, wife and friend, passed away on November 9th, 2022, from Pneumonia, in Wilsonville, Ore.

She was born on Nov. 9, 1942, to John and Lorraine Roche in Phoenix, Ariz.

In April 1963, she married James Gates and started a family. After moving a handful of times within Oregon, Linda and her family settled in Florence, Ore., in the summer of 1980. When she and James bought Viking Redi-Mix shortly after their move to Florence, she helped to manage the business until they sold it in the mid ‘90s. After that, she managed their trucking business, P&G Trucking, until they fully retired from trucking and opened Mother May I in 2003.

Linda had many loves. Having grown up in Eugene, Ore., with her father coaching the Ducks under Len Casanova, her obsession with Ducks football was well known among her family and friends. She would eat all of her red, blue, and brown M&M's first so that she would have the green and yellow ones left, often belting out the Oregon fight song when pointing this out to others.

While she loved to garden and sew, her favorite activity at home was filling endless photo albums with photos of friends and family. These albums served her well in her last few years as she dismantled them to make countless collages for her loved ones.

Linda was also an avid card player. Canasta, Hearts, King's Corner, Spite and Malice, Pinochle — you name it, she'd played it. Not only had she played it, she'd mop the floor with whoever was unfortunate enough to be playing against her. She had a knack for picking up games and becoming top dog of said game immediately.

Despite being vicious around the card table, Linda had a tremendous love for her family. Grammy, as she was known by her grandkids, spent countless hours playing various board games and going on outings with them to McDonald's or the grocery store and she enjoyed every minute of it. She had a way of making her children and grandchildren feel loved, supported, and special every single day of her life.

Linda is survived by her four children, son Cameron and daughters Shannon, Alicia and Quinn, and 11 grandchildren. A celebration of life will be held at a later date yet to be determined. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Boys and Girls Club of Western Lane County.