William M. Tate ’51

Bill was born April 22, 1929, in Frankfort, Ky., to Maria McElroy Tate and William P. Tate. He prepared at Choate and majored in chemical engineering at Princeton. Bill belonged to Elm and roomed with Bob Bohner, Charles Hardy, and Roger Williams.

Bill then worked successively for Union Carbide, DuPont Co., and Chemetron, with time out for two years in the Army Chemical Corps. He received a fellowship and earned a master’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Louisville in 1955. He married Ellen Spalding that same year.

In 1958 he took a job with Spalding Laundry Co. in Louisville, a large family-retail and industrial-laundry business, eventually serving as its president. Twenty years later he left Spalding and started Universal Uniforms Inc. and later, Universal Denim Services. Bill’s recreational passions were sailing, croquet, and backgammon.

Bill suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and died Aug. 25, 2014, in Louisville. He is survived by his son, Peter ’78; Peter’s children, John Augustus ’08, Mary Grace, and June; daughter Lisa Austin, her husband, Tom; and their children, Alex and Tate; and by his brother, Tom. Ellen predeceased him in 1998.