BY MATT MACKINDER
Clarkston News Editor

Like most celebrating birthdays these days, Jim Gates had to settle for drive-by well-wishes from area residents.
Gates, who turned 92 last month, was honored with a parade that came by his residence on Whipple Lake.
“The parade was my son Brendan’s idea,” said local resident Dana Fortinberry. “He is a lieutenant at Groveland Township Fire Department and has connections with our Independence Fire Department, which sent three vehicles. I asked the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department to participate and they were kind enough to send four vehicles and the helicopter.”
Barb Heuerman is Gates’ next-door neighbor and rallied everyone on the southeast side of the lake. Fortinberry’s oldest son and daughter-in-law live on the west side of the lake and her daughter-in-law, Lauren Fortinberry, rallied the Sashabaw neighbors.
“I helped Brendan notify the rest of the lake and Brendan notified other friends and family,” said Fortinberry.
Gates is the longest-tenured resident of Whipple Lake. He and his late wife, Millie, who died in 2012, lived in their home since the 1960s and are loved by all.
The Gates home is on the site of one of the original Bailey farmhouses. The original home burned in the 1930s or 1940s and the home Gates owns was built there after the fire.
It’s one of the oldest structures in the area and the Bailey property once encompassed the entire area around the lake. Bailey Lake Elementary School is named after the family.
“We call the area around our lake ‘Whippleville’ and Jim is definitely the mayor of Whippleville,” Dana Fortinberry said.
“Friends joke with me ‘your best friend is 92,’ but Jim and his late wife have been like my ‘adopted’ grandparents since we moved into the neighborhood when I was 7,” Brendan Fortinberry added. “They both took me under their wing.
Jim being a retired mechanic taught me tons about working on different things, and Mille being the best cook on the planet taught me how to cook, amongst other things.”
Heuerman noted that she has “so much love and respect for Jim that I could talk about him for days.”
“I would do anything to support ‘Mr. Jim,’ as he has done the same for me,” she said. “We all need a little good news these days, and I always find it when I visit him.”
Brendan Fortinberry added that planning the birthday parade was something he had seen others do on social media and decided to give it a try.
Mission accomplished.
“Jim’s nickname is ‘Crankshaft,’ as he does have a crotchety side to him, but I think the photos of his reaction during the parade shows he has a soft side to him,” he said.
“It was an absolute joy to see so many people turn out to honor this special man,” Dana Fortinberry said. “He kept saying, ‘Well this is a birthday I won’t soon forget.’
“And that was what we all wanted to accomplish – to make sure he knows that he is truly loved by so many.”

Photo by Lauren Fortinberry