OBITUARY -- Margaret Gompertz
J.L. Pimsleur
Published 4:00 am, Saturday, January 3, 1998

Margaret Bates Gompertz, an East Bay philanthropist and member of an early California family, died Tuesday in Oakland at the age of 90.

Born on the shores of Lake Merritt to Charles David Bates, a third-generation Californian, and Lucretia Burnham Bates, Margaret Bates was raised in Piedmont and received her bachelor's degree in history at the University of California at Berkeley.

After graduating from UC in 1928, she continued to support the university, serving as an alumni hostess there for more than 30 years.

She also had a particular affinity for attending football games at Cal's Memorial Stadium, which was built by her father's Oakland- based company, Bates and Borland.

Her career in community service began with her membership in the Fenton League, which became the Oakland Junior League in 1935. She was a founding member of Mother's Health Clinic of Alameda, the forerunner of Planned Parenthood and later served as president of the group's board of directors.

In 1933, she married Dr. John L. Gompertz of Oakland and worked for the volunteer Coast Guard while her husband served as an Army doctor in Europe during World War II.

She later served as president of the Council on Alcoholism (now the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Addiction) and was a founding member of the Alameda County Cancer Society.

While raising her three children in Orinda, Mrs. Gompertz was a Girl Scouts leader and a volunteer at Merritt Hospital.

After her husband retired from his medical practice, the couple moved to Oakland and began traveling extensively, marking their around-the-world voyages with thumb tacks on a world map displayed in their residence.

"She greeted life like a wide- eyed window shopper," said her daughter Jody Martin of Nicasio. "She always loved people and preferred to collect friends instead of things."

In addition to her husband and daughter, Mrs. Gompertz is survived by her son, Charles B. Gompertz of Nicasio; another daughter, Peggy Huntington-Merritts of Piedmont; a brother, John B. Bates of Piedmont, 11 grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.

Mrs. Gompertz's younger sister, Florence Bates Brown Holt, 87, of Stockton, died 20 hours after Mrs. Gompertz.

"It was remarkable," said Jody Martin. "The two sisters were very close and I think Mom simply spirited off to Stockton and said, 'Sis, c'mon, we're taking this trip together.' "

A memorial reception for both sisters will be held at 2 p.m. tomorrow at the Bellevue Club, 525 Bellevue Ave. in Oakland, on the shore of Lake Merritt.

Donations may be made to Planned Parenthood, 815 Eddy St., San Francisco 94109, or to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Addiction, 944 Market St., San Francisco 94102.