The Ole Miss community is in mourning after professor and Chair of Music Charles Gates died Monday at his home in Oxford at the age of 53.
A faculty member for 25 years, Gates served as department chair from 2005 to 2013. He was greatly loved and appreciated by colleagues as well as current and former students.
“I can tell you that the whole faculty is quite shocked and devastated by the loss of Charlie Gates,” said current department chair and professor of music Robert Riggs.
“He was a great man and an excellent former chairman of the music department.”
Gates received a B.M.E. degree in instrumental music education from Louisiana State University in 1983, and then the M.M. and D.M.A. degrees in trumpet performance and literature from Ohio State University in 1985 and 1992.
Gates first came to Ole Miss in 1988, joining the faculty as an assistant professor in the Music Department. He held numerous roles on campus including Director of the Academic Support Center, Faculty Fellow in the Sally McDonnell-Barksdale Honors College and Professor and Chair of Music.
Gates is survived by his wife of 30 years, Kathryn Gates, his daughter Sarah, his son William and two step-brothers, B.J. and Shane Dorrell of Lafayette, La.
A visitation will be held from 5-7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 27, at the Coleman Funeral Home. A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28, at the Oxford Church of Christ.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to the UM Foundation, Charlie Gates Memorial Fund, The University of Mississippi Foundation, P.O. Box 249, University, MS 38677.
