Inspired, helped run his son's foundation

SEATTLE LAWYER

William H. Gates Sr., a Seattle law firm founder and civic leader who helped his son, tech billionaire Bill Gates, establish what became the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the largest private philanthropies in the world, died Sept. 14 at his home near Seattle. He was 94. He had Alzheimer's disease.

Gates — 6-foot-6 in tasselled loafers and often addressed as “Senior” — cultivated a self-assured presence that vaulted him into the legal and political establishment.

To his surprise, his son, a Microsoft co-founder and Harvard University dropout who always seemed to resist parental authority, not only surpassed him in wealth and influence but installed him as co-chairman of the family foundation that has become a leader in anti-poverty and global-health initiatives.

“I never imagined that the argumentative young boy who grew up in my house, eating my food and using my name, would be my future employer,” Gates once quipped to a Seattle audience of non-profit executives.

The elder Gates was indelibly shaped by his Depression-era upbringing. After army service in the Second World War, he prospered as a corporate lawyer.

He helped build Preston Gates & Ellis — now K&L Gates — into one of Seattle's premier law firms. As president of county and state bar associations, he raised funds for legal aid for the poor. In addition, he was a trustee, officer and volunteer in organizations such as United Way and Planned Parenthood.

By the mid-1990s, his son and daughter-in-law asked him to oversee funding requests pouring into their new family philanthropic organizations. To winnow the deluge of mail, Gates initially relied on a system of cardboard boxes in his basement.

“He was not without ego — he was a tough lawyer,” Microsoft's then-CEO Patty Stonesifer said. “But he never had a sense of entitlement. He made sure we did everything with head but also heart. He was deeply embedded in what it takes to make a community work.”

Bill Jr. told The Seattle Times. “My dad's a very thoughtful person ... He conveyed, somehow, without being too explicit, his high expectations of us. There was a certain gravitas to his statements.”

In addition to his wife and son, survivors include two daughters from his first marriage, and eight grandchildren.

Bill Gates Sr.