William Herbert "Bill" Gates - A modern cowboy

Birth:  September 1, 1927    Chandler, Arizona
Death:  July 31, 2003 Mayer, Arizona 
Married: Phyllis Leah Runyan May 27, 1946, in Florence, Arizona

William Herbert "Bill" Gates was born on September 1, 1927, in Chandler, Arizona. His mother, Maude Gertrude Powell was 23 and his father, Herbert Ellis Gates, was 24 years old at the time of his birth. Bill was the second of three children. His older sibling Eli was 1 years old when he was born. His younger brother Kenneth was 8 years younger.

Bill came from a long line of Gates cattlemen. His great-great grandfather William Norwood Gates was an Atascosa County pioneer cattleman who passed on the trade to his sons including Bill's great-grandfather Alexander Franklin "A.F." Gates. A.F. was known in western Texas for his fine cattle and quarter horses. Bill's grandfather Fount Gates learned the cattleman's trade in Texas from his father and grandfather. In 1918 Fount moved to Kyrene, Arizona and began his own ranch. 

Maude

Bill's father, Herbert Ellis "Herb" Gates was born in Crown, Texas, November 14, 1903. Herb came with  his parents to Arizona. He graduated from Kyrene Elementary School in 1919 and from Tempe High School in 1923. After his graduation, Herbs parents purchased 60 acres of farm land nearby for him. 

Herb, being the only son, farmed along side his father Fount. They made the decision to build a dairy on Herb's land. Herb purchased addition parcels and soon had a fine dairy on his land. The Desert Land Farms dairy would prosper to become the second largest dairy in Arizona with over 600 head of cattle.

In December 1924 Herb married Maude Gertrude Powell. Maude was born in Collinsville, Illinois on April 27, 1904 to Gertrude Fix and William Powell. Maude was the fifth of six children born to the couple. Maude's father was a coal miner; he worked at the nearby mines.

The Powell family believed in education. Maude older sisters Blanche, Mabelle, and Cora were all school teachers. After Mabelle married Phil Schneider the pair moved to Phoenix. Mabelle sent for Maude and soon she was attending Tempe Normal School. 

After graduating in 1924, Maude began teaching school at Kyrene Elementary School. The local school was the heart of the farming community. Many community activities were held at the school, farm bureau, PTA, 4-H, and more. It was there Maude met her future husband Herb. It was not long before the pair was smittened. Herb and Maude were married at her parents house on Dayton Street in Phoenix where they had recently moved.


As a wedding present, Herb's parents built a small cottage for the couple on the banks of the High Line Canal on Herb's land.. The couple moved in and set up house. A bit over a year after their marriage Maude became pregnant with her first child. On February 17, 1926 Maude gave birth to their eldest son who they named Eli after Herb's father. Nineteen months later Maude gave birth to Bill on September 1, 1927 at home in Kyrene. Bill was named after Maude's Father William Powell.

In the 1920's, the Salt River Valley was in an economic
decline; the end of WWI slashed demand for Pima cotton. A drought in the western United States reduced agricultural production, adding insult to injury, demand for Valley produce fell as the economy struggled.

When the stock market crashed on October 29th, 1929 things got worse in a big way. Demand for copper, cattle and cotton collapsed leaving Arizona's economy in free fall.

Bill Gates

In Phoenix, unemployment grew while businesses and banks closed. Relief organizations were overwhelmed. The farm ensured the Gates family never went hungry; they had fresh eggs and milk, and chicken and cows to provide meat. But as demand and prices fell for milk products money was hard to come by. The Gates family struggled to make the payments on the farm land.

Maude was able to secure employment for herself and Herb at the Phoenix Country club through a family friend. Maude worked in the kitchen creating yeast rolls, pies and cakes while Herb worked as a life guard in the pool. Working long hours away from the farm meant they had to leave their young sons with family.

Eli was sent to live in town with Maude's parents, Gertrude and William Powell. Bill was left on the farm with his Gates grandparents Liz and Fount. Around 1932 things were better and Herb and Maude were able to return to the farm.

In the fall of 1933 Bill started school. He was enrolled in Kyrene Elementary School. He and his brother Eli were in the same class Grade 1-2.

Bill, went to Kyrene School from 1st thru 8th grade. When he was small, he and his older brother Eli rode their ponies to school. Adjacent to the school was a field that the students used to pasture their horses and ponies. At some point during his 8 years of attending Kyrene school, bus service became available. From that point on, Bill and his brother Eli rode the bus to and from school.

Bill's mother Maude was a former teacher. Her family considered a good education extremely important. She was active in the local PTA. She held office and served as president during the 1936-1937 school year. She also volunteered as a room mother at the Kyrene Elementary school. 
The school sponsored a cub scout troop and Bill and his brother Eli joined the troop. 

Bill was close to his paternal grandfather, Fount. Bill lived with his Gates grandparents when his parents took jobs in town during the depression. Fount suffered from the lasting effects of Typhoid Fever which he had caught while working for the rail road in 1918. The effects included psychosis and depression. In July 1934, Fount could no longer bear it and he took his life. What a heartbreak for little Billy who was only 6 years old.

In February 1936, Bill's mother gave birth to another son named Kenneth Ellis Gates. Bill was 8 years old. Kenny was a cute baby and every one in the family welcomed his entrance. When Kenny was quite small he contracted a viral infection that left him with severe brain damage. Kenny's mental development stalled. He never learned to talk and didn't take orders. The family believe he might be deaf. Both Eli and Bill being many years older were expected to help look after Kenny. It was another family heartbreak when Kenny had to be institutionalized.

Bill bought his first horse when he was about 10 years old. He wanted this horse so bad that he gathered duck eggs for his mother to pay for it. Bill used to tell the story that he had to walk across the barnyard to catch the bus for school and when he got on the bus the kids had made bets whether or not he had "shit" on his shoes. 

Bill was a very energetic boy that always loved the western way of life. He was active in 4-H throughout his grade school days. He showed dairy, beef cattle and hogs at the Maricopa County 4-H fair that was held in the spring at the Arizona State Teachers College. He also showed his livestock in the Tucson Livestock show. 

After graduating from Kyrene Elementary in May 1941, Bill was enrolled at Tempe High School where he was active in extracurricular activities. 

Bill enjoyed sports; he played football and basketball for Tempe High. He excelled in football, where he played guard for the varsity team from his sophomore year on. To be able to play football he had to find rides home from school or walk because he lived 10 miles from school.

He must have earned a letter in his Freshman year; he was pictured with the Letterman's club in the 1941-42 Horizon Year Book.

Bill took Agriculture classes at Tempe High. He continued with 4-H club work and joined the Future Farmers Association (FFA) club at school. 

He held offices every year and was elected president of his local club his Junior and Senior years. 

The April 5, 1941 edition of the Arizona Republic stated Bill had the Best Registered Holstein Heifer for 3 years in a row at the Maricopa County 4-H fair. 

In 1944 Bill was named as one of 10 young men to win the State Farmer Award at the FFA State conference held in Tucson. He was also active in the State organization. He attended the State conventions. In 1944 He was elected as the treasurer of the State organization. 

Bill was able to go to Kansas City, Kansas his senior year of High School while he was the State FFA Vice President. This trip was sponsored by the Santa Fe Railroad, it was one of the most memorable things he did. 

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Bill wanted to join the military and serve his country.  He was not of age and his parent were firmly against it.  He always felt he missed out.

So he continued with his schooling and graduated from Tempe High School. In September 1945, Bill, then 18, registered for the draft, but war was over and the need for soldiers disappeared.

After High School he worked on the dairy farm with his father, Herbert, and his older brother, Eli, where he did the majority of the dairy and farming and his brother did the mechanic work. 

On May 27, 1946, Bill married 16- year-old Phyllis Leah Runyan, daughter of Ruble and Gladys Bearden Runyan in Florence, Arizona. The high school sweethearts eloped while Bill's parents were out of town. Phyllis was born in Jerome, Arizona on Dec. 16, 1929.  

They made their home in the Kyrene farm community at the SE corner of 48th street and Williams Field Road (now called Chandler Blvd.) where Bill owned land.

 

Bill and Phyllis started their family right away. 

Their first child was born in 1947 and the youngest in 1957.

      Linda Sharon Gates on September 20, 1947
      Karen Lynn Gates on September 13, 1949 
      Pamela Gertrude "Pam" Gates on November 17, 1950
      William Herbert "Herbie" Gates Jr. on January 30, 1952 
      James Robert "Robbie" October 30, 1957

Bill worked with his father and brother on the dairy in Kyrene until they sold it. The dairy was located in Kyrene on the corner of Ray Road and 48th Street and was called Desert Land Farms. 

They built the dairy up to where they were milking around 400 cows. Bill ran the animal side of the Dairy operation until it closed in 1972. 

They also farmed around 1000 acres to feed the cows and themselves.  When all the children were in school, Phyllis took a job at the Kyrene Elementary School where she worked in office.

Bill and Phyllis were active in the Kyrene farming community.  Bill was president of the Kyrene  Farm Bureau about 1955. The family went with him to Monterey Beach, California during his term as president and it was a time they all remember.  In 1957, Bill served as Secretary for the Maricopa County Farm Bureau.

The couple was active in square dancing with the Tempe Tenderfoots, where they made lots of friends.

Bill won a seat on the counsel for Salt River Project.  He served on the counsel for about 10 years.

When I was young, Uncle Bill would truck the milk to the Carnation Milk Plant in Phoenix.  Later on when the United Dairymen milk processing plant opened in Tempe, the milk would be processed in Tempe.

In 1972, Bill and Phyllis bought the Circle T ranch in Mayer, Arizona with money from the sale of the dairy. The couple stayed in the Kyrene area until 1976 waiting for "Robbie" to graduate from Marcos de Niza High School in Tempe. The couple then built their dream home on the ranch. 

Bill quickly entered into the life of a real cowboy; he learned to rope, fix open range fence and move cattle from one range to another. In addition to the Circle T land , Bill would run cattle on state, forest, and BLM land.  

The ranch came with the Quarter Circle T brand, Bill also acquired the WG brand before he came to Mayer.  He also used the old family HG brand that was used on the dairy farm that they called Desert Land Farms.

After the move, Bill and Phyllis became active in their new community.  Bill was the local Cattle Growers President in 1990-91.  

He was also active in the Lonesome Valley Sheriff's posse where we went on many searches.  He was President in 1979.  

He joined the Mayer Lyons Club and served as President in 2000.

Bill was featured in the following article about his life in Mayer.

 

This is the article referred to in the above bio.

In May 1996, the couple celebrated their Golden wedding anniversary; what an accomplishment, 50 years.

Like all long lives, Bill not only had triumphs, but also sorrows. 

After a long fight with Muscular Dystrophy, Bill's youngest child, Robbie died March 18, 1978 at the ranch in Mayer at the age of 20. He was buried in the family plot at Double Butte cemetery in Tempe.

His older brother, Herbie, died December 8, Dec 1997 in California at the age of 45.  He is buried at Double Butte Cemetery in Tempe near his brother Robbie.

After a long and productive life, Bill passed away at the Circle T Ranch in Mayer at the age of 75.  He was buried at Double Butte Cemetery in Tempe near his two boys.

He was survived by his wife Phyllis and 3 daughters, Linda, Karen and Pam.