William "Bill" Toomey '51

He was born on March 15, 1927, to William and Jule Toomey in Chicago, Ill. Bill had an active childhood and was a Boy Scout. He attended South Shore High School in Chicago, before graduating early in 1944 to join the Navy during World War II. He was stationed in Tillamook, Oregon and served as a firefighter. Following the war he was employed at the Ford auto assembly plant in Illinois. He attended Grinnell College in Iowa on the GI Bill, where he met the love of his life, Shirley Anderson. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics from Grinnell in 1951. The couple married on March 24, 1951, and settled in Madison, where they raised three children, established a successful real estate property business and become lifelong Badgers sports fans and season ticket holders.