Booth, William Wallace.

William Wallace Booth was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, on November 2, 1896 to Harry and Ella Wallace. His college career was interrupted by World War I where he served as a pilot in the U.S. Air Corps from 1917-1919. On returning home Booth finished his B.S. in Economics at the University of Pittsburgh in 1920. In 1922 he completed an LL.B. and was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar later that year. He began his practice in Pittsburgh in 1922, and went on to join the firm of Reed, Smith, Shaw, and Clay in 1935 where he worked until his retirement in 1969. His alumni work with the University of Pittsburgh began in 1940 when he served on the Alumni Committee on Trustees' Elections. He was a member of the Alumni Council from 1941-1947, the Board of Trustees from 1941-1969, and the Executive Committee from 1955-1968. William Booth married Adelaide Skelton Lanz in 1925, and the couple had three children: William Wallace, James Youngson, and Cynthia Skelton. On October 21, 1986, William Booth died of heart failure; he was 89 years old.