Birth date: Jul 27, 1930 Death date: Mar 31, 2025
F. Gregory Gause, Jr. F. Gregory Gause, Jr. of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, died on March 31, 2025, in the presence of family, after a brief illness. Greg was born in Wilmington, Delaware, on July 27, 1930, and, except for his stint Read Obituary
Greg was always in a distant part of my life as my sister, Joan Butler, and her husband James (Jay or Jim) Dugan were on the Catholic Forum of the Air with Greg. (I play the baby Jesus once back in the 1950s and Greg might have played St. Christopher) In 1960 Greg was in an automobile accident and my brother, Joe, witnessed it. He pulled Greg out of the wrecked car and took him to the hospital. Then in the 1990s we started going to Rehoboth every fall and as soon as we arrived Greg would come pedaling down Laurel Street to our apartment behind the Star of the Sea to visit. And for the next 20+ years we went to Greg and Pattie's to enjoy cocktails and snacks on their wonderful front porch. We also visited with him at the FVW and American Legion. After COVID ended our stays there, I kept in touch with him via phone. I last saw Greg during this past Seawitch and went to the VFW to hear him sing Karaoke. I was sincerely saddened to learn of his passing so soon after.
My husband and I met Greg and Pattie when our friends bought the house across the street from them in 1992. I don’t think we have ever had a trip to Rehoboth that did not include a visit with Pattie and Greg. We will miss the hospitality, great conversations and of course the V&Ts that came with these visits. More recently we enjoyed meeting Greg at the Post and listening to him sing Karaoke, pretty amazing at 94! Truly the end of an era on Munson Street. We will miss you Greg, you and Pattie will always be in our hearts!
Higgy and Steve
Such a kind man.. I always enjoyed our phone conversations and he always asked about Matt and his brothers. RIP as you certainly deserve it! Bless your family left to honor your memory.
My family knew Greg mostly from my father as Greg and my father belonged to a group called the Catholic Forum of the Air in the 1950s who had a weekly Sunday afternoon radio show on WDEL. There was an 18 year difference in age but both enjoyed each other’s company Across the street from Greg on Grant avenue lived my mother’s first cousin who’s oldest daughter Jean was very very attractive and last year Greg told me Jean taught him how to play Post Office. He said he was a quick learner
In the 1954-55 time frame my family rented a Redefer cottage on New Orleans street in Dewey for $40 a week. My father would drive down from Wilmington every Friday night. He informed my mother that Greg would be joining him the following weekend and he was bringing a girl he was dating. Her name was Patti. My mother said she just shook her head as Greg had dated every girl/woman in the Wilmington area
Greg and Patti arrived the next weekend and my parents immediately fell in love with Patti. On Saturday my parents and the parents of all of the other children in the Redefer cottages would go to the Bottle and Cork for ‘lunch’ and tell all of the children they would be back in the early afternoon to take us swimming. By 1 or 2 o’clock it was obvious it was going to be another Saturday with no beach time. I was maybe 9 or 10 and most of the rest of the children were younger than me so we needed an adult before we could go swimming
All of a sudden Patti left the Bottle and Cork and came back and took all of us swimming. What a tremendous person. My father died young (45) in 1957 but my mother who lived her last years in Rehoboth remained friends with Greg and Patti until her death at 93 in 2009
I graduated from Salesianum and went off to college and personally lost touch with Greg and Patti as I spent 27 years in the Air Force living all over the world. In 2001 we bought a house in Rehoboth and moved here full time in 2011. Greg and I belonged to an organization called MOAA, that consisted of retired military officers who met for lunch once a month. Greg and I always sat together and Greg and I would discuss the old days. Great man who will be missed
I was fortunate to meet both Pattie and Greg when my counting team at St. Edmond needed team members. They were both wonderful people and it was a privilege to share the time with them as we counted.
Pattie was a math wiz and I could ask her to add numbers in her head, much faster than I could on a calculator. She had a quiet but fun and congenial way about her and your Dad did, too. He was a genteel, walking, talking entertaining man who was able to tell a story and impart knowledge with facts, almost like a pre-cursor to the limitless instructional videos on the internet today. He was in charge of sorting the bills for us to count. Now if you ever had an occasion to glance into the basket as it was passed, you would have noticed that for many a sermon, the bills served as the current days, fidget. Sometimes we would get airplanes, rings, arrows - just about anything that one can imagine. Your dad not only sorted the bills but added straightening to the requirements and he would get those bills so straight and flat that I would always say, “Greg, they are almost crisp enough to slice a tomato.” We would all laugh.
He and she were just interesting, down to earth people, who I was fortunate enough to have crossed paths with and for that I am grateful.
What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.
You are all in my prayers and thoughts.
Mr Gause (I could never call him by his first name) was a special person to me and a valued customer at the bank. He always made me smile when he stopped by the branch, and I admired his passion for coin collecting ... my father was a numismatist too. I learned so much more about him by reading this tribute today. I will miss seeing him, but I am happy he is at peace and has rejoined his beloved wife in heaven.
I miss my friend and always will. I will always remember the many memorable times we had together. As you reunite with your beloved Patti, know that you are forever in our hearts. God Speed my friend. Rest in Peace.
