William H. Gates Sr.

William H. Gates Sr.
Gates Sr. visits the Naz Foundation's care centre for HIV Positive children, during his visit to India
Born	William Henry Gates II (1925-11-30) November 30, 1925 Bremerton, Washington, U.S.
Died	Hood Canal, Washington, U.S.
Alma mater	University of Washington
Occupation	Lawyer (retired)
Spouse(s)	Mary Maxwell Gates Mimi Gardner Gates
Children	Kristianne Gates Bill Gates Libby Gates
Parent(s)	William Henry Gates I Lillian Elizabeth Rice

William Henry Gates (born William Henry Gates II; November 30, 1925 - died September 14, 2020), also known publicly as Bill Gates, Sr. was an American attorney, philanthropist and author of the book Showing Up for Life: Thoughts on the Gifts of a Lifetime. He was the father of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and the founder of the law firm Shidler McBroom & Gates, and also served as president of both the Seattle King County and Washington State Bar associations.

One of a line of businessmen named William H. Gates, and sometimes called William Gates Jr. in his career, he was generally known in his later life as William Henry Gates Sr. due to the greater prominence of his son William H. Gates III.

Life and career

Gates was born in Bremerton, Washington, to William Henry Gates I or Sr. (Bremerton, Washington, March 14, 1891 – Bremerton, Washington, August 17, 1969), and wife (married in Tacoma, Washington, July 14, 1913) Lillian Elizabeth Rice (Bremerton, Washington, April 23, 1891 – Bremerton, Washington, November 27, 1966). He was the third in his family to have the same name, his grandfather being the first William Henry Gates. His paternal grandmother was German and his maternal grandmother was English. Gates was an active member of a Boy Scout troop for several years, and earned the Eagle Scout Award in 1944. After high school he enlisted in the United States Army, changing his name to William Gates Jr. to avoid the appearance of elitism. He fought in World War II and was honorably discharged in November 1946.

He attended the University of Washington (UW) under the G.I. Bill, where he earned a B.A. in 1949 and a law degree in 1950. While at Washington he joined the Chi Psi Fraternity. He practiced law until 1998, primarily with the law firm which he co-founded as Shidler & King in 1964, later known as Preston Gates & Ellis LLP; the firm was merged into the firm now known as K&L Gates, although Bill Gates Sr. is not affiliated with the firm. Gates also served on the board of Planned Parenthood.

In 1998, Gates retired from PGE. He later served on the Board of Regents for the University of Washington, and was a co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which his son Bill and his son's now-ex-wife Melinda founded. He served as a director for Costco Wholesale, a bulk retail corporation, from 2003 until his death in 2020. He was also a founding co-chair of the Pacific Health Summit. He later adopted the suffix "Sr." to distinguish himself from his more famous son.

Gates was co-author, with Chuck Collins, of the book Wealth and Our Commonwealth: Why America Should Tax Accumulated Fortunes, a defense of the policies promoted by the estate tax.

He married Mary Maxwell Gates, whom he met at UW, and who died in 1994. They had three children: Kristianne, Bill, and Libby. In 1996 Gates married Mimi Gardner Gates, who was the director of the Seattle Art Museum. In 2018, it was revealed that Gates was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. He died on September 14, 2020, aged 94, at his beach home on Hood Canal in Washington state.

World Justice Project

William H. Gates Sr. served as an Honorary Co-Chair for the World Justice Project. The World Justice Project works to lead a global, multidisciplinary effort to strengthen the Rule of Law for the development of communities of opportunity and equity.

Awards and recognition

• Awarded the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award which acknowledges his business and civic success at least 25 years after earning Eagle Scout rank as a Scout.
• University of Washington School of Law Distinguished Alumnus, 1991
• Recipient of the American Judicature Society Herbert Harley Award, 1992
• Served on the Board for Judicial Administration, Washington State Supreme Court, 1993–1995
• President of the Seattle-King County Bar Association, 1969-1970
• President of the Washington State Bar Association, 1986–1986
• Inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2003
• Has a building at the University of Washington School of Law named for him, William H. Gates Hall, 2003
• Public Education Foundation speaker at Edmonds-Woodway, 2004
• Washington Medal of Merit, 2009
• Recipient of Chi Psi Fraternity's Albert S. Bard Award for his contributions to the intellectual and cultural life of the community, 2010

External links

• Portrait of William H. Gates Sr. by Margaret Holland Sargent
• Speech for the graduates