Roll of Honor
Robert W. Gates, Sr.
Incident
Chief of Police Robert Gates suffered a fatal heart attack while investigating a prowler call at a residence.
He had been on duty at the township fire department for the annual fair when he was notified of a prowler at a home across the street. He collapsed as he searched the house.
Chief Gates was a United States marine Corps WWII and Korean War veteran. He had served with the East Pikeland Township Police Department for 16 years.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-PA-FF0ADD12- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
I served 1985 to 1993. You served too, before the badge - different uniform, same idea. You go where you are sent and you do not get to pick the call.
Chief of Police Gates gave the East Pikeland Township Police Department 16 years.
Thank you for your service to the Kimberton community. Thank you for your service before it. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Military Service
Robert W. Gates, Sr. served in the United States military before joining law enforcement. Full service record available on salute.nw.
Chief of Police Robert W. Gates, Sr. is one of 1,306 officers lost to cardiac events in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 4% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In PA, 118 of 1,261 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 9.4% of this state's fallen. That is 5.4 percentage points above the national rate of 4%.
National Cause Distribution
How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Robert W. Gates, Sr.'s cause is highlighted.
How Robert W. Gates, Sr. Compares
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. Robert W. Gates, Sr. is highlighted in Jul.