This is the last of the ten memorials that Associate Editor Stephen Zeff has solicited, reviewed, and edited. His successor as Associate Editor in charge of memorials will be Robert Colson.
William Wager Cooper was born on July 23, 1914 in Birmingham, Alabama, where his father was a bookkeeper and later a distributor for Anheuser-Busch. Bill's family moved to Chicago when he was three years old. His father owned a chain of gasoline stations, but lost them during the Great Depression. With his father in ill health and no family revenue, Bill left high school after his sophomore year to work at whatever jobs he could find. These included spotting pins in bowling alleys, caddying at golf courses, and even professional boxing, where his record was 58 wins, 3 losses, and 2 draws.
While hitchhiking to the golf course one day, Bill met Eric L. Kohler, a principal with Arthur...
