Jim Gates

1951 - 2021

James "Jim" Michael Lewis Gates
January 26, 1951 - December 22, 2020
Jim was born in the Presidio of SF to Army SFC Richard (Dick) Gates and Lore Maisch Gates, Dick's German war bride, and began life at Ft. Cronkhite and Woodacre, in Marin. The family moved to Yokohama, Japan in 1953, returning to Ft. Ord, CA in 1955, then to Bozeman, MT, and finally settling in Hayward, CA in 1957 when Jim's Dad taught ROTC at UC Berkeley.
Jim graduated from Mt. Eden High School in 1968 and briefly served in the USAF. He made his home in his beloved San Francisco, where he earned his philosophy degree from SFSU. Shirley Smith became his wife until divorce in 2008. Jim's career was working with the Sign Display and Allied Crafts Local 510, becoming active in Union affairs. He was involved in his SF community and supported many social causes.
Jim loved travelling. His preferred mode of transit was on foot, by which he hiked most of the Pacific Crest Trail. A member of the PCT Association, he hiked from Mexico through most of Oregon on annual trips, and had begun mapping his next section for his Spring 2021 hike. Jim also belonged to the Bay Area Ridge Trails Council and had hiked the entire circuit around SF Bay. A continuing goal was finding and climbing the highest mountain in every state beginning with Mt. Whitney.
Jim was a talented carpenter, a jack-of-all-trades, and an avid reader.
Diagnosed with multiple myeloma in early December, 2020, Jim passed three weeks later on the Winter Solstice with his brother at his side.
Preceded by his father in 1969, and by family friend Robert Atkinson of Vallecito, CA, in 2010. Survived by his mother, Lore Gates, and brothers Tim (Marianne) and Joe, of Vallecito; his sisters Lynn (Duane) Condit of Hayward and Nancy Johnson of Hanford; nieces and nephews Amanda, Austin, and Jackson Gates, Seana Condit-Gordon, Mariah Hohn, Dylan Condit, Larry Gates, and Kimberly Duong; cousins Duane Sandul and LeAnn Thomsen' Tante Gisela Bauer and cousins in Stuttgart, Germany, and good friend Aisha Kassahoun of San Francisco.
A celebration of live will be held May 23 from 3-5 PM at the Cafe Reverie (848 Cole, SF), and on the Summer Solstice Jim will rest in his beloved mountains.