An Old Salt's long fight to recover his health finally came to an end.

William Lloyd Pate was born in Ukiah, California, on July 17, 1916, to Joseph and Phoebe Pate. His family, which also included sons William and Thomas and daughters Marian and Leafy, moved to Santa Cruz about 1918. Pate attended local elementary schools, Mission Hill Junior High and enrolled in Santa Cruz High School in the fall of 1932. During his high school years, he majored in art before leaving in the spring of 1934.

William Pate enlisted in the US Navy on September 17, 1934, and was sent to boot camp. During his naval career, he served aboard the USS Omaha, the Concord, the Calioka and the Meade, with shore assignments in navy yards at Mare Island, California, Brooklyn, New York, and Charles- ton South Carolina. From May 1943 until the end of the war, he saw duty aboard the USS North Carolina that sailed out of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

“In November 1943, North Carolina assisted in capturing enemy positions in the Gilbert Islands. This began a pattern of operations for her that lasted for the rest of World War II: serving in the anti-aircraft screen of aircraft carrier task forces and occasionally using her heavy guns to bombard Japanese- held islands. In these roles, during 1944 she was involved in the Marshalls operation in January-February, attacks on Central Pacific targets through the late winter and spring, the Marianas invasion and Battle of Philippine Sea in June, and Western Pacific carrier strikes in November and December.

On June 14, 1944, William Lloyd Pate entered the Veterans Hospital in Corona, California, with an unspecified medical condition. He remained confined to the hospital for twenty months prior to his death on February 22, 1946. His body was later returned to Santa Cruz and following a funeral, was interred in Santa Cruz Memorial Park.

(SCHSC Pg. 16; DANFS, USS North Carolina; SCSn February 28, 1946 8:3)