Helen Elizabeth Upton Gates died June 28, 2015 in Santa Barbara, California, after a brief illness. A longtime resident of Bainbridge Island, she had recently moved to Santa Barbara to be close to family.

She was born Oct. 8, 1926, in Owosso, Michigan, the daughter of William Bayly Upton Jr., and Beatrice Virginia Porteous Upton.

Her father made maps for the U.S. Geological Survey throughout the West; because of his ever-changing assignments, the family moved frequently, which meant a new school almost every year until her mother insisted that for high school, stability was needed.

She graduated from C. K. McClatchy High School in Sacramento, California (1944), then attended Sacramento Junior College for one year before transferring to the University of California at Berkeley (BA, 1948; major in anthropology). At Berkeley, she belonged to the Gamma Phi Beta sorority.

In the summer of 1948, she traveled throughout Europe on a bicycle tour conducted by SITA (Students International Travel Association), the first such trip after World War II.

In December, 1948, she married Charles Warner Gates II, a fellow Berkeley graduate. They settled in Pasadena, where he began his career in business.

The couple would later move to Santa Barbara in 1963, to Los Angeles in 1972, and then, after Charles retired, to Sequim in 1989, and finally to Bainbridge Island in 1995.

They had four children, all of whom survive: Charles Warner Gates III, William Upton Gates, Geoffrey Stephen Gates and Elizabeth Courson Gates. In addition, they had six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Betty (as she was known) had many interests, including reading (her home was full of books, on shelves and in piles), traveling, gardening and playing bridge. She was active in such organizations as the Garden Club of America, the Sunset Club and the Women’s University Club (both of Seattle), the Little Town Club (of Santa Barbara), and St. Barnabas Episcopal Church (Bainbridge Island).

She enjoyed people. A longtime regular at Bainbridge Bakers, she took enormous pleasure in her early morning conversations. She listened well, taking a genuine interest in the activities of others; her many friends responded to her warmth with great affection.

Memorial donations can be made to the Bainbridge Public Library.