Deborah (Gates) Senft (1927 - 2016)

Born 27 Mar 1927 in New York City, New York, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Alfred Walter Senft — married 7 Aug 1948 (to 8 Dec 1990) in Woods Hole, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States

Died 31 Mar 2016 at age 89 in Woods Hole, Falmouth, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Thomas Randolph [send private message]

Biography

Deborah was born in 1937 in New York City, New York. She is the daughter of Frederick Lamont Gates and Dorothy Olcott. She married Alfred W. Senft, a professor of medicine at Brown University, in 1948 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. They raised four children together. Deborah was Coordinator of the Volunteers for Hospice Rhode Island. Her husband passed away in 1990. Deborah died in 2016 at Falmouth, MA at the age of 89. She is buried in Woods Hole Village Cemetery in Woods Hole, MA.

Children:

Obituary

The Enterprise (Falmouth, MA), 15 Apr 2016; accessed at www.capenews.net/falmouth, 14 Feb 2021.

Deborah G. Senft

Apr 15, 2016

Deborah Gates Senft of Woods Hole died on March 31. She was 89. She was the daughter of Frederick Lamont Gates and Dorothy Olcott Gates Elsmith. She spent summers as a child in Woods Hole with her family. As an undergraduate, she spent her junior year at the University of Zurich, where she met Alfred W. Senft, whom she later married in 1948 in Woods Hole. She graduated from Mills College and earned her master’s degree in physiology from Boston University while her husband was at Harvard Medical School. She worked at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, soldering one of the first general purpose computers. She and her husband went to Labrador and to New Guinea to provide medical aid. Later, she conducted and published scientific research with him at Brown University. They moved to Falmouth when her husband joined Falmouth Medical Associates in 1955. When Dr. Senft decided to open his own practice, he discovered that Bradley House, owned by Woods Hole Library, was about to be torn down. He rented and renovated it and used it for his office. For a while, the family lived upstairs in the building that later became the Woods Hole Historical Museum. Ms. Senft worked as a director of volunteers for Hospice in Providence. She was a founding member of the Falmouth Free Clinic, now known as Community Health Center of Cape Cod, and continued her hospice work on Cape Cod. She became an avid world traveler and made many lifelong friendships with people across the globe. One of her favorite destinations was Bhutan, because, as she said, “they value gross national happiness.” Upon returning from her travels, she would host events in which she would tell about her trips and the places she visited, stressing history and culture and showing slides and artifacts. Ms. Senft especially enjoyed traveling one by one with her grandchildren. Along with her love of travel and reading, she was especially fond of gardening, drawing from nature, and political discourse, and was very involved in the Woods Hole community. She was predeceased by her husband in 1990. She leaves a son, Stephen Senft of Woods Hole; two daughters, Karen Olcott of Bellevue, Washington, and Valerie Gates Senft of Wellesley; six grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her daughter Jennifer Senft; and a sister, Barbara Burwell. A remembrance open house for Ms. Senft is being planned by the family.

Sources

Robert Cady Gates. 2002. George Gates of East Haddam Connecticut and Some of his Descendants. Published by Robert Cady Gates, P.O. Box 7032, Hudson, FL 34674-7032. Accessed 10 June 2015 at: Gates genealogy provides information about Deborah's family, including her children.

Residence in Massachusetts

"United States Census, 1930," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XQG1-CYN : accessed 25 May 2015), Deborah Gates in household of Frederick L Gates, Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 0066, sheet 24A, family 438, line 31, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 917; FHL microfilm 2,340,652.

Name: Deborah Gates;

Gender: Female;

Age: 3;

Marital Status: single;

Race: White;

Race (Original): White;

Relationship to Head of Household: daughter;

Relationship to Head of Household (Original): daughter;

Birth Year (Estimated): 1927;

Birthplace: New York;

Father's Birthplace: Minnesota;

Mother's Birthplace: Michigan;

Household (Role Gender Age Birthplace):

Frederick L Gates, Head, M, 43, married, marriage age: 30; Minnesota; parents' birthplace: f:NY; m:Wisconsin; Research, college, own account, employed, veteran, World War;

Dorothy O Gates, Wife, F, 39, married, marriage age: 26; Michigan; parents' birthplace: Michigan;

Olcott Gates, Son, M, 11, New York; parents' birthplace: f:Minn; m:Mich;

Barbara Gates, Daughter, F, 9, New York; parents' birthplace: f:Minn; m:Mich;

F Taylor Gates, Son, M, 7, New York; parents' birthplace: f:Minn; m:Mich;

Dorothy Gates, Daughter, F, 5, New York; parents' birthplace: f:Minn; m:Mich;

Deborah Gates, Daughter, F, 3 (3+10/12), New York; parents' birthplace: f:Minn; m:Mich;

Bertha J Jakobsen, Nurse, F, 29, single, Massachusetts; parents' birthplace: Norway; nurse, private family; wages; employed;

Penelope Mcdonnell, Waitress, F, 25, single, Ireland; parents' birthplace: Ireland; Immigration yr: 1923, pending citizenship application; waitress, private family, wages, employed;

Bridget Faherty, Cook, F, 27, single, Ireland; parents' birthplace: Ireland; Immigration yr: 1923, pending citizenship application; cook, private family, wages, employed. Address: 31 Fayreweather Street. Rental, $250. with radio. All read/write/speak English.

Residence in New York

"United States Census, 1940," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KQTJ-8PZ : accessed 25 May 2015), Deborah Gates in household of Leonard Elsmith, Assembly District 16, Manhattan, New York City, New York, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 31-1452, sheet 62B, family 167, NARA digital publication T627 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012), roll 2658.

Name: Deborah Gates;

Gender: Female;

Age: 13;

Marital Status: Single;

Race (Original): White;

Race: White;

Relationship to Head of Household (Original): Daughter;

Relationship to Head of Household: Daughter;

Birthplace: Massachusetts;

Birth Year (Estimated): 1927;

Last Place of Residence: Same Place.

Household (Role Gender Age Birthplace):

Leonard Elsmith, Head, M, 48, married, educ:c-6; Minnesota; employed, music teacher, own practice, 18 hrs/32 wks; own account, $2500, other income; Additional data: Parents' birthplace: Minnesota; Language spoken in home in childhood: English; Soc Sec Number?: No; Usual occupation: music teacher, own practice, own account;

Dorothy Elsmith, Wife, F, 48, married, Educ: C-5; Michigan; housework, never worked; no other income;

Berta Rhinedorf, Lodger, F, 52, married?, educ:H-4; Minnesota; employed; music teacher, own practice, own account, 18 hrs, 32 wks; $3600, no other income;

Olcott Gates, Son, M, 21, single, educ:c-2; at school, Massachusetts;

Barbara Gates, Daughter, F, 19, single, educ:H-4; at school, Massachusetts;

Taylor Gates, Son, M, 17, single, educ: H-3; at school, Massachusetts;

Dorothy Gates, Daughter, F, 15, single, educ: H-2; at school, Massachusetts;

Deborah Gates, Daughter, F, 13, single, educ:8; at school, Massachusetts. ::Address: 86th Street. Rented, $250, not a farm. Everyone was in same place in 1935. No other income for children.

Residence in Massachusetts

"New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909, 1925-1957," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:245G-NT9 : accessed 25 May 2015), Deborah Gates, 1947; citing Immigration, New York City, New York, United States, NARA microfilm publication T715 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 2,296,193.

Name: Deborah Gates;

Event Type: Immigration;

Event Date: 1947;

Event Place: New York City, New York, United States;

Gender: Female;

Age: 20;

Status: Single,

Birthplace: New York N Y;

Ship Name: Queen Elizabeth, sailing from Southampton, 27 Aug - NY, 1 Sep 1947.

Birth Year (Estimated): 1927.

Birth: 27 Mch 1927, NY, NY.;

Residence: Woods Hole, MA.

Looks to be alone.

Children

New York Times (New York, NY), 1948. Ancestry.com, Historical Newspapers, Birth, Marriage, & Death Announcements, 1851-2003. Accessed 8 Jun 2015. "A.W. Senft to Marry Miss Deborah Gates. Mrs. Dorothy Elsmith of Woods Hole, Mass., has announced the engagement of her daughter, Miss Deborah Gates, to Alfred W. Senft, son of the Rev. and Mrs. Hans Senft of St. Francis, Kan. The wedding will take place in September. The bride-elect, daughter also of the late Dr. Frederick L. Gates, attended the Brearley School in New York and the Garrison Forest School in Garrison, Md., and was graduated in 1944 from the Northampton (Mass.) School for Girls. She studied also at Mills College in Oakland, Calif., spent last year at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, and returned to Mills College, from which she will be graduated in June. Mr. Senft, who served with the Army Medical Corps in the Pacific, also was a student at the University of Zurich last year. A senior at the University of California, he will enter the Harvard Medical School in the autumn."

Death

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/172235464/deborah-senft : accessed 14 February 2022), memorial page for Deborah Gates Senft (27 Mar 1927–31 Mar 2016), Find a Grave Memorial ID 172235464, citing Woods Hole Village Cemetery, Woods Hole, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, USA ; Maintained by Elaine (contributor 47932173) .

Name: Deborah Gates Senft

Birth: 27 Mar 1927 New York, New York County (Manhattan), New York, USA

Death: 31 Mar 2016 (aged 89) Woods Hole, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, USA

Burial: Woods Hole Village Cemetery, Woods Hole, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, USA

Memorial #: 172235464

Created by: Elaine (47932173)

Added: 4 Nov 2016

Photo?: yes

Inscription: Family stone: "Senft"; Foot stone: "Deborah Gates Senft; March 27, 1927; New York, New York; March 31, 2016; Woods Hole, Mass.; There's a wideness in God's mercy, like the wideness of the sea"