Carroll Wayne Gates

Funeral services for Carroll Wayne Gates, 84, will be held on Wednesday, January 15, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. at Rose-Neath Funeral Home, 2201 Airline Dr., Bossier City, Louisiana. A graveside service will follow at Rose-Neath Cemetery in Bossier City. A visitation will be held from 9:00 a.m. until the time of service. Officiating the service will be Deacon Michael Young and Chaplain Mike Perser.

Wayne Gates served with the Shreveport Fire Department, beginning on January 15, 1962, and advanced through positions until retiring as Assistant Fire Chief after 33 years. He then served as interim Fire Chief for Benton Fire District 4 and served as Vice-Chair for the Fire and Civil Service Board. Wayne and his wife, Paula, met through a Rotary Group Study Exchange with Turkey in 2006 and were married in 2008 by then District Governor Bruce Willson, in what they referred to as their Big Fat Rotary Wedding. Between them, they have raised five children, Robert, Dwayne, Crystal, Claire, and Vangie, all of whom are Paul Harris Fellows. 

Wayne served his community through his employment with local Fire Departments, but also through volunteer services with the local Sheriff's Department. He served as Treasurer for Ducks Unlimited for eight years. He served as a Bossier Parish Sheriff Patrol Reserve Deputy for over twenty (20) years. 

He joined the Benton Rotary Club in 1990, serving as President 1997-98, during which year he organized the Interact Club for Benton High School. He served in other Interact capacities at the district level. He maintained 18 years of perfect attendance at the Benton Rotary Club in 1995. He became a Rotary Benefactor. He presented a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow to the oldest Rotary Benton Club member and continued to do this until every club member received a Paul Harris Fellow status. He was instrumental in having the first annual Club Roast as the club's largest fundraiser. He was selected as Rotary District 6190 Governor of Rotary's Centennial Year 2004-05. In 1997, he was introduced to the Rotary Youth Leadership Award and has since served as Counselor, Camp Director, and District Chair. He served as Sergeant-At-Arms or Chief Sergeant-At-Arms at District Conferences, President-Elect Training, as well as other Rotary district meetings and Zone Institutes. He was the Rotary Endowment Fund chair and embodied the commitment to the Rotary Foundation, as he and his wife are major donors, benefactors, and bequest society members. He also managed the annual Benton Christmas parade each year. Wayne also hosted many Group Study Exchanges and Friendship Exchanges. He has served as Sergeant-At-Arms at approximately 23 District Conferences, 11 Zone Institutes, and 13 International Conventions, four of which he and Paula served as Senior Sergeant-At-Arms. He received a District Governor's Award each year from 1998-2012, the Foundation Four Avenues of Service in 2001-02, the District Service Award, the Citation for Meritorious Service, and the Service Above Self Award, Rotary’s highest award. He and his wife Paula are third-level Major Donors, having also gifted Paul Harris Fellows to members of the Rotary Club of Benton and ensured that each of their children are Paul Harris Fellows. Wayne was always there to help and personified the Rotary motto of Service Above Self. 

He was preceded in death by his father, John Wesley Gates; his mother, Lucille B. Gates; and his late wife, Frances Watson Gates.

Remaining to cherish his memory are his beloved wife, Paula Weaver Gates; children, Robert Gates, Dwayne Gates, and wife, Connie, Crystal Blackmon, and husband, Jason, Claire Shelton and husband, Nathan, and Vangie Crosby; grandchildren, Jason Gates, and wife, Teresa, Josh Gates, Erin Bullard Hepp, and husband Isaac, Connor Bullard, and fiancée, Kristen Arnette, Dylan Blackmon, and wife, Verenice, Landon Blackmon, Gunner Blackmon, and Kenna Shelton; great-grandchildren, Savannah Gates, Blakley Blackmon, and Oaklynn Blackmon; brother, Cecil Gates, and wife, Judy; sister, Benita Seymour, and a host of nieces and nephews, and countless friends and the Benton Coffee Club.

Honoring Wayne as pallbearers will be Joe Rice, Charles Duke, Bobby Edmiston, Bobby Cannon, J.T. Wallace, and Darryl Kendrick. Serving as honorary pallbearers will be his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. 

The family would like to express thanks to the Willis Knighton Hospice team, the Elizabeth Family Clinic, Dr. Tyler Lash, Dr. Nicole McCommon, Dr. Matthew Hefner as well as Dr. Paul Cole, Dr. Gerardo San Pedro and Dr. Christopher Wilson for their care and compassion. The family would also like to give special thanks to Andy Shehee.

The family suggests memorials may be made to the Benton Rotary Club, P.O. Box 525 Benton, Louisiana 71006.