Jack Pate, who served the community for 14 years on the city
council and modernized the business dealings of the Gilroy Rotary
Club, loved to take pictures. His favorite subject: his five
grandchildren.
Jack Pate, who served the community for 14 years on the city council and modernized the business dealings of the Gilroy Rotary Club, loved to take pictures. His favorite subject: his five grandchildren.
“My kids called him ‘Camera Grandpa,’ ” daughter Jennifer Howell said. “He took so many pictures of his grandkids. It’s actually hard to find one of him.”
The former Gilroy City Councilman and Rotary Club member, died Thursday of cardiac failure following an illness. He was 77.
He was a big California history buff and loved to travel, Howell said.
Pate especially enjoyed taking trips to Disneyland with his grandchildren and had a trip to Yosemite planned.
He had previously traveled to England and Hong Kong with friends.
He also enjoyed politics and really believed in the democratic process, Howell said.
“One of the things I’ll miss is being able to call him before an election and discuss the pros and cons of candidates and propositions,” Howell said. “I really looked to him to clarify my own opinion.”
Pate served on the city council for 14 years and was concerned about growth, said Santa Clara County Supervisor Don Gage, who served on the city council with Pate in the early 1980s.
“Jack was just a really nice guy,” Gage said. “He was very bright, paid attention, did his homework and made a lot of good decisions for the city of Gilroy. He was liked by a lot of people.”
Pate also was a member of the Gilroy Masonic Keith Lodge #187, the Gilroy Presbyterian Church and the Gilroy Rotary Club, which he joined in 1961, serving the past six years as the club’s secretary.
Rotary was a very important part of his life, Howell said.
“When he was laying in the hospital he was still worried about who was going to take over for him,” Howell said. “Rotary was a big deal.”
When he took over the job of secretary in 2002, he helped modernize the club, said longtime member Ernie Filice, who served as president that year.
“Jack brought us into the computer age,” Filice said, recalling the previous secretary using a typewriter. “He really helped the club move into the next millennium. Jack was a good guy.”
Pate moved to Gilroy from Stockton in 1947 and graduated from Gilroy High School two years later.
He received his bachelor’s degree from San Jose State University in 1953, then enlisted in the U.S. Navy, in which he served until 1956.
He returned to Gilroy where he owned and operated Gilroy Stationers and then took over Montgomery Auto Parts, the family business, after his father died.
He enjoyed Dixieland Jazz so much he asked that a traditional New Orleans Dixieland Jazz band play during the processional to the grave, Howell said.
He also loved photography, computers and genealogy, his daughter said.
Larry Connell, another longtime Rotary Club member, has known Pate since the two were children.
“He was quiet, honest, thoughtful and a good friend,” Connell said.
Born April 2, 1931 to Carl and Esther Pate, he is survived by his daughters, Kelly Bryan of Lake Oswego, Ore., and Jennifer Howell of Alameda; brother, Jerry Pate of Daly City; grandchildren, Caleb, Taylor and Elizabeth Bryan and Carl and Claire Howell; niece Kimberly Pate; and ex-wife Sue Ball.
There will a viewing at Habing Family Funeral Home, 129 Fourth St., from 6 to 8 p.m. today.
Services will be held at the Gilroy Presbyterian Church, 6000 Miller Ave., at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, with burial to follow at Gavilan Hills Memorial Park, 129 Fourth St.
A celebration of his life will continue at the Gilroy Elks Lodge, 2765 Hecker Pass Highway.
Donations to the Gilroy Rotary Foundation or Gilroy Presbyterian Church are appreciated.
