William McChesney Muth was born on October 2, 1916, the son of G. Harry Muth. His mother died on January 22, 1927. In September 1938, Muth sailed for Europe on the Bremen, and he was a student at the University of Heidelberg in the spring of 1939. He returned to the United States on the SS Black Falkon in October 1939 and became an aviator in the United States Navy in September 1941. Muth was stationed on the USS Curtiss in the Pacific area from January 1942 to August 1943, during which time he received a promotion to lieutenant commander. Muth married before 1942, and his wife was living in Lincoln Park, Pennsylvania, in November 1943. William M. Muth died in Florida on July 2, 1990.
From the guide to the William M. Muth collection, Muth, William M. collection, 1938-1946, 1939, 1942-1943, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)
