7Nov1921 – 20Apr1944
Edison Days
Bill graduated with the Class of January 1940. He was a football player! He played varsity football for 4 years. He was a 3 year letterman. He was Second Team All City as a Junior and First Team All City as a Senior. He played football at St. Mary’s College in San Antonio, then for the Minnesota Gophers.
Bill was such a local football star that when the Minneapolis Millers baseball team played an exhibition game in San Antonio in April 1941, Bill got to sit on the bench! And it was local news in the Minneapolis Star newspaper.
Military Service
Rank: 2nd Lieutenant
Branch: United States Marine Corps Reserve
Bill enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1942.
By December 1942 he was in pre-flight school in Iowa City, IA.
In January 1943 he continued flight training and earned his pilot wings at Wold Chamberlain Field (Now MSP International Airport) in Bloomington, MN.
Bill went to Naval Air Station Olathe in Gardner, KS for advance training.
Bill and Seaman 2nd Class Melven Ray Hartley were killed when the plane that Bill was piloting crashed on a routine training flight near Limon, CO. Poor weather appeared to be a factor in the crash.
Bill is buried at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minnepolis, MN.
Edison Heroes 