Washington, September 16: William Henry Gates Sr, father of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates died at the age of 94. Bill Gates mourned his father's demise on Twitter and said, "My dad was the “real” Bill Gates. He was everything I try to be and I will miss him every day.

Bill Gates Sr died on Monday at his beach home on Hood Canal, Washington.  The cause of his deaths was Alzheimer’s disease. William Gates played an important role in the development of Microsoft, the world’s largest software company. Bill Gates Sr, Father of Microsoft's Co-Founder, Dies at 94.

Bill Gates Sr was an American attorney and philanthropist, and author of the book Showing Up for Life: Thoughts on the Gifts of a Lifetime. Gates served under the US Army for three years during World War II. Returning to Seattle, he attended the University of Washington under the GI Bill and received a law degree in 1950.

Here's what Bill Gates tweeted remembering his father:

According to a Bloomberg report, Bill Gates Sr built his law practice at the Seattle firm that became Preston Gates & Ellis LLP, then part of K&L Gates LLP. Among its clients was Microsoft.

In an interesting incident, the elder Gates operated the slide projector at his son’s first keynote address at the Comdex trade show in Las Vegas, in 1983. “Without me, you wouldn’t be here," he joked at one meeting of Microsoft employees.

According to reports, he served for fifteen years 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 daughter-in-law Melinda founded, until his death.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 16, 2020 12:11 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).