Sandra Ray Gates

Sandra “Sandy” Ray Gates (Groves), Age 69.  Born June 13, 1947.  Died March 25, 2017. Sandy was born at Swedish Hospital in Seattle, Wa. to James Ellis Groves and Sibyl Ray Groves (Horton) on June 13, 1947.   They lived in the Lawtonwood neighborhood of Seattle, Wa.  She went to Queen Anne High school in Seattle, Wa., where she graduated.  She married her husband Richard Gates on Nov. 8, 1969 and they remained married for 48 years until her death on March 25, 2017. She worked the majority of her life as a Certified Nursing Assistant caring for the elderly. She and her husband Richard lived in Seattle for several years before moving to Yakima, Wa.  They moved out to Moxee in the late 1970’s until they bought Boot Hill wrecking yard in Prosser, Wa.  When they sold the wrecking yard they moved to Grandview, Wa. She and Richard traveled to Oahu, Hi in the 1970’s.  They also took a road trip to Mexico and from there drove to Nashville, Tn. and Branson, Mo. Before driving home.  More recently they took a cruise around the Hawaiian Islands. She had a great love for animals throughout her life.  Over the years she owned many rescued dogs and cats.  She also had horses for several years.  She absolutely loved participating in local theater productions, both in Yakima and Grandview.  Some of her favorite productions were Annie and the Sound of Music.  She enjoyed watching musicals, especially anything by Rogers and Hammerstein.  She and Richard also loved going camping up in the Cascade Mountains with their horses and riding the trails. She became a Christian in the late 1990’s and she and her husband attended both the Grandview Seventh Day Adventist Church and the Sunnyside Seventh Day Adventist Church.  She found great joy in the local church family.  She also had a great love for the seniors she cared for as a CNA.  She kept pictures and knew all of their family member’s names and the details about their lives.  Her other great love was family.  While she never had children of her own she loved all of her various nieces and nephews as though they were hers.  She absolutely loved when one or more of them would come and visit even if it was only for a few hours. She was very caring and fun loving to be around weather is was to watch a musical with her on T.V. or play UNO or Spades at the dining room table.  Once people really got to know her they would always stay friends with her.  She was a warm, generous and loving person. Sandy is preceded in death by her parents James Groves and Sibyl Groves.   She is survived by her loving husband Richard Gates and her sister Susan McIntosh of Mountlake Terrace, Wa., as well as many nieces and nephews. Memorial services will be held at Smith Funeral Home in Grandview, Wa. on Thursday April, 6, 2017 at 2:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers donations to the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome or the American Heart Association may be made on her behalf. Those wishing to sign Sandra’s online memorial book you may do so at www.funeralhomesmith.com  Smith Funeral Home in care of arrangements.

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