William R. Euard
William Euard
Born sometime in 1897 to Frank B. and Mary Katherine Euard in Kewanee, Illinois, Euard arrived at Knox College in the fall of 1916. He soon became a standout athlete and a budding member of Tau Kappa Epsilon. He was on the varsity football squad as a freshman, and he broke the conference discus record. He was expected to achieve even greater things in his first year, but when the U.S. entered World War I on April 6, 1917, he immediately enlisted. Notably, he was the first undergraduate from Knox to enlist the very day war was declared.
Euard joined the National Guard in his hometown and was later stationed at a camp in East St. Louis, Illinois. Like many soldiers, he wrote letters back home to his family and friends, but Euard notably wrote a letter to his fraternity brothers in TKE, giving an account of the night a thief snuck into their camp and caused much excitement.
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Tau Kappa Epsilon photographs
William Ray Euard and the football team
He later received his promotion to 1st Lieutenant in the AEF and left for France soon after. He fought in a few battles until armistice was declared on November 11, 1918. He remained in France after the war, and was set to come home in February of 1919, but he died before that happened.
William Euard is buried in Pleasant View Cemetery in Kewanee.
William Euard and football