William M Spencer

Spencer was born in 1892 in Erie, PA. His father was president of the First National Bank of Erie. Spencer graduated from Princeton University in 1915. In college, he served as class treasurer and was a member of the track team. Spencer earned the Distinguished Service Cross as an officer in the “Fighting 69th” battalion of the U.S. Army in World War I. He fought in the battle of the Marne as well as another engagement in which all but three of his unit’s 30 officers were killed. Upon returning to the U.S., Spencer served in the Illinois militia and was its chief of staff from 1940-1942. His highest military rank was that of colonel. Spencer’s business career began at the Hammerhill Paper Company. He directed the firm’s Great Lakes shipping activity. In 1924, he married Gertrude White. White’s father, F. Edson White, had been president of Armour & Co. William and Gertrude had two sons, Edson and William Jr., and a daughter, Suzanne. In 1941, Spencer was elected chairman of the North American Car Company, a railroad car manufacturer owning 7,750 rail cars. By Spencer’s retirement in 1959, the firm had become the third largest railroad car renter in the nation with more than 15,000. Spencer had an active civic and volunteer career as well. In 1951, he was appointed chairman of the Chicago Plan Commission. His goal was to beautify Chicago to such an extent that surrounding suburbs would want to become incorporated within the city limits. Spencer was a trustee of Northwestern University, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Latin School Foundation, Children’s Home & Aid Society and the Chicago Boys Club. Spencer died in 1984 at the age of 92.