Bill Gates Sr, father of Microsoft co-founder passes away at 94

Bill Gates Sr, a lawyer and father of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, died on Monday at his beach home on Hood Canal, in the Seattle area. The news was shared by the former Microsoft boss on his Twitter handle. Bill Gates Sr was 94. The cause was Alzheimer's disease, his family said in an announcement on Tuesday. William Henry Gates II was born Nov. 30, 1925, in Bremerton, Washington, 

"My dad was the 'real' Bill Gates. He was everything I try to be and I will miss him every day," Bill Gates tweeted. 

Gates Sr played a crucial role in establishing the world's largest philanthropy, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. 

"My dad's influence on our philanthropy was just as big. Throughout my childhood, he and my mom taught me by example what generosity looked like in how they used their time and resources," Bill Gates said in a statement. 

As the story goes, Gates Sr was 69 in 1994 and was planning to retire from his law practice in a few years when, one autumn evening, he and his son, Bill, and his daughter-in-law, Melinda, went to a movie. Standing in the ticket line, Bill told his father that he was being inundated with appeals for charity but that he was far too busy running Microsoft to answer them. 

"The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation would not be what it is today without my dad. More than anyone else, he shaped the values of the foundation. He was collaborative, judicious, and serious about learning. He was dignified but hated anything that seemed pretentious," Gates Jr said in a statement. 

In addition to his son, Bill, he is survived by his wife; his daughters, Kristianne Blake, who is known as Kristi, and Elizabeth MacPhee, who is known as Libby; and eight grandchildren.