William M. Spencer was born in 1892 in Erie, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Princeton in 1915 and enlisted as an officer in the 165th Infantry Regiment, the former "Fighting 69th" made famous by Col. William Donovan and Father Francis Duffy. As a 2nd Lieutenant, Spencer participated in the Second Battle of the Marne (1918), engaging the enemy on the heights near Villes sur Fere, France. His actions while wounded earned a Distinguished Service Cross. After the war in Chicago, Spencer worked at the Hamerhill Paper Company and served as the chairman of North American Car Company from 1941 until his retirement in 1959. He also served as the Chief of Staff of the Illinois Militia, 1940-1942. Spencer married Gertrude White, daughter of F. Edson White, president of Armor and Company. Spencer was a trustee of Northwestern University, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Latin School Foundation, Children's Home & Aid Society and the Chicago Boys Club and was an amateur composer. Spencer died in 1984 at the age of 92.
From the guide to the William Marvin Spencer papers, 1962-1996, (Music Library)
