William "Bill" Gatewood

William Bryant Gatewood was born in Louisville, Kentucky on April 6,1944, to the union of Ernest and Sarah Eaves Gatewood. Some of his lifetime peers and friends know him only as "Bill" Gatewood, their friend and/or colleague. Bill was called to heaven peacefully on January 19, 2023. Bill was 78 years old. He accepted Christ as his personal savior at an early age, uniting with Central Baptist Church in his hometown Louisville. During his lifetime, Bill was a devoted community and political activist in his beloved Louisville. Bill worked tirelessly advocating for greater employment opportunities and better educational services to underserved communities. His day-to-day efforts aided in the pursuit of enhanced affordable housing stock for working class people, and greater representation of community groups underrepresented on boards and councils that decide when, how and where the city’s resources were needed to support social, political, and economic justice for working class people, black and white, in Louisville. Perhaps the community and political activism that Bill demonstrated during his work lifetime first manifested itself much earlier during his life Journey. Its genesis was the lessons he was taught by the elders in Beecher Terrace Housing Community where Bill was raised. His teachers at S.C. Taylor Elementary School, Madison (Russell) Junior High School and Central High School were major contributors to shaping his persona as a community and political activist. In his junior year at Central High School, Bill was elected president of his homeroom class. Bill was elected president of his school's graduating class in the following school year. After graduating from Central High School, Bill attended the University of Louisville where he focused his studies on subjects related to community development and economic and political empowerment of working-class black people and white people. He remained true to his calling as a community activist by promoting efforts in Louisville to increase voter registration and voting by Black people and working-class whites. In 1979, Bill Gatewood and five others from the Chestnut St. YMCA envisioned a mentoring program to serve African American youth. This led to the establishment of Louisville's Black Achievers program. Believing that it was possible and needed to advance the economic wellbeing of Louisville's Black community, Bill lent his support and participation in a group of Black high-ranking city officials, civil rights and community leaders who formed the organization PAC-10. The mission of PAC-10 was to build political capacity by pooling Black political and economic resources to advance the interests of the local Black community. Political actions by PAC-10 were effective. During Bill's lifetime of community and political activism, he was appointed by the Mayor of Louisville as the Director of the city's Office of Community Development, and he was looked upon as being one of the few most influential blacks with access to white leadership in Louisville. After leaving city government, Bill became the Director of Com munity Programs for the Presbyterian Community Center (Smoketown Shelby Park), a church-supported non-profit organization in Louisville, and worked with the Metro Housing Resource Center (MHRC). He served as a community council member for his Shawnee neighborhood in West Louisville. Bill Gatewood was an elder role model and pillar of leadership in his family. Whenever any family member reached out to him for assistance of any nature, he gave that assistance to the degree he was able. Bill walked the walk; he was not a person to talk the talk. On numerous occasions, Bill welcomed family members to his home to live rent free when that person needed a place to stay for an unspecified period of time. That person might have been an older brother who was experiencing major economic hardship, a nephew short of sufficient funds to pay for a college education, or a brother whose mental and physical health had weakened dramatically over time and required home healthcare providers and Bill's assistance along with other family members to manage his care. Bill Gatewood was preceded in death by his former wife, Arminta Poignard; his parents, his sister, Sara Gatewood-Sanders, five brothers: James Dobbins, Earnest Gatewood, Craig Gatewood, Lavelle Gatewood and Fred Gatewood. He is survived by his brother, Lucian "LB" Gatewood; Bill's daughter Adriann Gatewood, his grandchildren, Ke'Aira Wooden-Brown (Robert), Arianna Sadler, and William Hazard; Bill's siblings from his father's third marriage: Johnny, Frankie, Bobbie, Lillian, Sally and Earnestine Gatewood, and a host of other close relatives and friends. Life for William "Bill" Gatewood was rich in the blessings of God's love, good deeds, victories and achievements. Visitation: 10am -12pm Friday, January 27, 2023 at A. D. Porter & Sons Funeral Home, 1300 W. Chestnut St., with funeral service to follow at noon.

William "Bill" Gatewood

April 6, 1944 - January 19, 2023