Jean B. Gates

Jean Bernard Gates, 92, of Raritan Township, passed away in her home on Tuesday, April 7, 2026 in the care of Hunterdon Hospice and her children.

Born in Trenton, New Jersey on October 21, 1933, to the late John J. Bernard and Elizabeth Dillon Bernard, Jean spent most of her adult life in Ewing, NJ.

Jean was a graduate of Cathedral High School and worked for the Bernard family businesses and in banking. She married her childhood sweetheart, Richard M. Gates, on December 28, 1957, and raised her family in a neighborhood surrounded by the households of her parents and the families of her three sisters, the late Eileen Russell, the late Joan Davison and the late Margaret Morocco.

Jean loved dogs, especially labrador retrievers, taking long walks, watching and feeding birds and a good joke. As a young girl, Jean learned to ride horses, and eventually she had one of her own, a mare named Jay, stabled in the back yard of her parents’ home. Jean loved to share memories of a cross-country trip she took with her husband after he was discharged from the Army, from Washington State to New Jersey. She delighted in raising six children and in laughing about her sons’ antics. Her family always came first.

Jean was a devoted wife, mother and grandmother to her husband of almost fifty-nine years, the late Richard M. Gates, and to her six children and two grandchildren. She is survived by her son Mark Gates and Mark’s wife Kimberly, of Kintnersville, PA; her daughter Beth Gates and her husband, John Farmer, of Raritan Township, NJ; her son Gary Gates of Ewing, NJ; her son Matthew Gates and Matthew’s wife Linnette, of Penn Yan, NY; her son John Gates of Ewing, NJ; and her son Stephen Gates and Stephen’s wife Melanie, and Stephen and Melanie’s two children, Jacob and Sarah Gates, of Delaware Township, NJ. Jean is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews and their families. They will miss her forever.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made in Jean’s name to Hunterdon Hospice, HMC Education Center, 215 Route 31 South, Flemington, NJ 08822. Donations can be made on their website by clicking here.  Click Hunterdon Hospice in the “I want to support” tab.

A private service will be held in the coming days at the Washington’s Crossing National Military Cemetery in Washington’s Crossing, Pennsylvania. A Mass dedicated to her memory will be served on Saturday, November 21, 2026 at 8:00 a.m. at Saint Magdalen de Pazzi Roman Catholic Church in Flemington, NJ.

Funeral and cremation arrangements are under the direction of Holcombe-Fisher Funeral Home, 147 Main St., Flemington NJ 08822.  For further information or to leave an online condolence, please visit www.holcombefisher.com.