Shock at passing of John Gately

IT was with much sadness and deep regret that Brideswell and Athlone lost one of its most popular and kindhearted people with the sudden passing of the late John Gately, Curry, Brideswell, Athlone, on Saturday last. John, aged 52, passed away at his residence in Brideswell on July 4 and will be sorely missed by family and the many friends he made throughout his life.A kind spirited and extremely generous person, John is perhaps best known within the local community for the fantastic work he performed as Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of St Hilda"s Services in Athlone. Attached to St Hilda"s for over 30 years, John was viewed by many as the backbone of the organisation and was a hugely respected character and professional among his many peers.John was largely responsible for developing and expanding the services at St Hilda"s to a standard widely regarded as second to none, playing a key role in bringing St Hilda"s from humble beginnings into a service centre that now offers pre-school, school, adult training centre, resource centre, horticulture units and numerous respite houses for people with an intellectual disability. At St Hilda"s, John focused and dedicated himself to the families" needs and will be sorely missed by his family, staff at St Hilda"s and the families with whom he had contact with through his work. John was also fondly thought of in the Kiltoom area and is a founder member of the Cam Celtic Football Club. He was also integral to incorporating soccer into the Kiltoom/Cam Community Games set-up. Known for his great sense of humour and genuine wit, John was an extremely hard working man and thoroughly dedicated to both his family and his work at St Hilda"s, and with the various other organisations he became associated with throughout his life. One of John"s main passions in life was for Athlone Town FC and he became a familiar face on the terraces of St Mel"s Park for many years, before joining the club committee in recent times. John became involved at committee level at the club during the important planning and launch stages of the patrons scheme which helped save the club from possible extinction. A club statement paid tribute to John, saying: 'It was with great shock and sadness that the club heard about the passing of Athlone Town FC joint treasurer John Gately on Saturday afternoon. In his short time on the committee John took a number of initiatives under his belt and the success of these will be seen in the coming months as they come to maturity. Everyone involved with Athlone Town FC would like to express their deepest sympathy to his family and friends.' Club chairman Tony Knight said: 'The club is devastated by the news and our thoughts are with John"s family and friends.' A vote of sympathy in respect of the late Mr Gately - proposed by Cllr Kevin "Boxer" Moran - was also passed at Monday evening"s meeting of Athlone Town Council. John is survived by his wife Anne, daughters Mairead and Maeve, son Eoin, his mother Maisie, sisters Eilish, Rosaleen and Noleen, brothers-in-law, sister-in-law, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, other relatives, neighbours, work colleagues and his many good friends. John"s remains were removed to St Brigid"s Church, Curraghboy, from St Brigid"s Funeral Home, Brideswell, yesterday evening (Tuesday). Funeral Mass takes place today (Wednesday) at 12pm with burial afterwards in Cam Cemetery. A guard of honour was formed by committee members of Athlone Town FC at his removal last night.