Alan S. Gage's Obituary
Alan Gage Obituary
Alan S. Gage died June 25, 2019 of pancreatic cancer at Kendal at Oberlin, Ohio. Born December 10, 1925 to Herbert Lincoln Gage and Edna Louise (nee Downey) in Oklahoma City, OK. Alan was the youngest of eight children. Alan is survived by his two daughters, Kit Gage (Steve Metalitz) and Connie Gage (Mark Irving), grandchildren Robin Metalitz (Raj Gupta), Batya Metalitz (Jordan Bloom), and Nick Irving; great grandchildren Zia and Akash Metalitz-Gupta. He is preceded in death by his wife of 68 years, Nancy Louise Doerr Scott, parents, and siblings. During the depression, ten year old Alan and his family moved to the Chicago area; he called himself an Okie ever after. During WWII, Alan served stateside in the Army. He became a 2nd Lieutenant, ultimately helping run troop trains for returning soldiers. During military training in Georgia, his company was awakened in the middle of the night. They had the privilege of forming an honor guard for the body of President Franklin Roosevelt who was conveyed to the train station in Warm Springs, Georgia before traveling onto Washington DC. After the war, Alan attended Northwestern University on the GI bill where he met librarian Nancy Scott. She asked for the first date; they were married in 1948 upon his graduation. In 1952, when first daughter Kit was 9 months old, they moved from Skokie to Barrington, Illinois where Alan was employed at Jewel Tea Company. Connie arrived in 1955. After 16 years in Illinois, the family moved to Racine, Wisconsin where Alan joined Johnson Wax to head up the non-aerosol division of their manufacturing. Alan and Nancy were active in the arts community, in various pursuits, including the Wisconsin Funeral and Memorial Society and in a decades long book club. They didn’t hesitate to challenge the common wisdom. They traveled widely to the backcountry of Alaska, Mexico, Nunavut, Canada and numerous other locales where they experienced diverse cultures and environments. When the time came to think about retirement, Alan and Nancy researched all manner of continuing care retirement communities, ultimately settling on Kendal at Oberlin as charter residents. This was a decision they never regretted. They jumped into life at Kendal with both feet - helping set up systems from the wood shop to arts acquisition policies, to allowing beer and wine in the formal dining room; Alan understood the significance of resident leadership and participation in the success of Kendal and was a prime example. Known as the Boss, and ‘Glue, Screw and Bolt It’ Gage; Alan was a character, and he reveled in it.
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