Felicia (Shoemaker) Gates

Felicia Shoemaker Gates passed away suddenly on October 30, 2024. Felicia was born on April 18, 1942, in Oneida, Tennessee, the oldest of eight children born to Floyd and Helen Shoemaker. She graduated from Oneida high school in 1959 and attended the University of Kentucky where she earned a degree in education. Fourteen years after receiving her undergraduate degree, and as a 37-year-old mother of three young children, Felicia returned to law school before obtaining her law degree in 1980. After graduating from law school, she was a legal services attorney and worked in private practice before entering the business world in 1982 as the Vice President for Corporate Development Legal Counsel for Naegele Outdoor Advertising. She left Naegele to become a successful business owner in the highway sign business, during which time she constructed and managed the logo sign networks in the states of Tennessee and Kansas.

Felicia was an avid reader and lover of the arts who traveled as often as she could. She loved to sing in the church choir and serve as a docent at the Frist Art Museum. She loved learning about new ideas and was always curious about the people, places and things the world has to offer. Felicia's home was filled with pictures of her family and art and other cherished mementos from her life and travels.

Family was the most important thing to Felicia and provided her with the greatest joys and satisfaction she experienced during her life. She was a well-loved mother, grandmother and great grandmother who instilled in her children the importance of self-reliance, keeping an open mind and overcoming personal fears in order to fulfill their potential. She taught them the importance of continuous learning and making full use of their talents in order to live life in a way that enriched them emotionally and spiritually.  Felicia was a member of First Presbyterian Church of Nashville. She was a former President of Memphis Museums and the Nashville Opera Guild.

Remaining to cherish Felicia's memory are her children Chris (Anna) Carson, Todd (Elizabeth) Carson and Molly (Jeremy) Westmoreland; her grandchildren Frances (William) Tynes, Taylor Carson, Helen Carson, Sarah Westmoreland, Luke Westmoreland, Nathan Westmoreland, Tommy Carson and Charlie Carson; great grandchild Anna Frances Tynes; brothers Brom (Jenny) Shoemaker and Martin (Barbara) Shoemaker; sisters Josetta (Jerry) McLaughlin, Cheryl Butler, Boolie Stephens and Christy (Jerry) Marcum as well as a host of nieces and nephews and other relatives and close friends.

Preceding Felicia in death are her husband, Larry Gates, her parents Floyd and Helen Shoemaker, and her sister, Diana Carlill.

Visitation will be held on November 23, 2024, at 10 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church Nashville with a Memorial Service to be held thereafter at 12 p.m.  Memorial donations in Felicia's name may be made to the Frist Art Museum, 919 Broadway, Nashville, TN   37203.

This obituary is presented by Jones & Son Funeral Home and West-Murley Funeral Home of Oneida, TN.

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