Interviewer: Preetam Prakash and Kelly McLain

Affiliation: University of Arizona

Preetam was referred to Mr. Otis Gates. We met at his home in Pass Christian, Mississippi. He entered the United States Army in 1952 as a cook. The Army sent him to school for both his GED and LPN degrees. He had met his wife in the Army early in his career and her family was from Pass Christian. After his retirement from the Army in 1972, they settled their family in Pass Christian. Mr. Gates then worked for the VA Hospital for 18 years continuing his nursing career. Mr. Gates is a member of Our Mother of Mercy Catholic Church and operates the Pass Christian community food pantry out of a space that the church has donated for over 20 years.

Mr. Otis Gates was born in LaGrange, Georgia. The United States Army took him several stations in the U.S., but also to Korea, Germany and Vietnam. He was met his wife at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey only three months after entering the Army. His first trip to Pass Christian was in 1954, to meet his wife’s family. Her father was a commercial fisherman. Mr. Gates acquired a love for the water and shrimping and settled his family in Pass Christian in 1972.