Early Life and Education
William Wakefield White was born in Dallas, Texas, to Harold E. and Mary Leona (née Hayes) White. His father, Presbyterian, died when William was a young child, and he and his mother subsequently moved to Kansas City, Missouri. His mother married Jerome Charles Baum, a Jewish businessman, who adopted William and gave him his last name.
He received his early education at the parochial school of St. Peter's Church, and began to serve as an altar boy at age 10. He entered St. John's Minor Seminary in 1940, and then studied philosophy at Glennon College in St. Louis. In 1947, he entered Kenrick Seminary, also in St. Louis, for his theological studies.
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