RUMFORD – Mr. William “Bill” Gates, 61, died Monday, Feb. 18, 2019, at the Rumford Hospital surrounded by his family. He resided on the Green Woods Road in Peru.Born in Waltham, Mass., on Sept. 10, 1957, he was a son of Lloyd and Loretta (Hassell) Gates. Bill graduated from Oxford Hills High School and University of Alabama at Birmingham. He was the first Paramedic in the State of Maine having worked for Hawthorne’s and then was Manager for REMS and Med-Care Ambulance for many years and then in 1996 he founded and operated Professional Vehicle Corp in Rumford. Bill was a communicant of the Parish of The Holy Savior St Athanasius St John Church in Rumford and the Rumford Rotary Club.He was married in Dixfield, Maine, on July 18, 1986, to Sharon McPhee Oldham who survives of Peru. Other survivors include sons, Tyler and his fiancé, Brittany Quinlan of Nashua, N.H., and Ahmed Mete of Bronx, N.Y., daughter Tara Oldham and her husband, Richard Korhonen, of Camp Lejeune, N.C.; grandsons, Kaden and Korbin Korhonen of Camp Lejeune, N.C.; brothers, Richard and his wife, Elizabeth, of Bergeron, N.Y., John and his wife, Cherilyn, of Towson, Md., James of Waterville, Maine, and Stephen and his wife, Joan, of Andover, Mass.; a sister, Barbara Tinder and husband, James, of Stoneham, Maine, and a very special friend, Bud Houghton.Friends and family are invited to sign the online guest book and share memories with the family at www.meaderandson.com.A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 10 a.m., Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, at the Parish of The Holy Savior St. Athanasius St John Church in Rumford. Interment in the spring will be in St. John Cemetery in Rumford, Friends and family are invited to call at the Meader & Son Funeral Home, 3 Franklin St., Rumford, Maine, on Thursday from 4-7 p.m.Those who desire may contribute to:Rotary Foundation14280 CollectionsCenter DriveChicago, IL 60693 orto the Alzheimer Association ME Division283 US Route 1 #2CScarborough, ME 04074in his memory.
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