Early Life
Bill Veeck was born on February 9, 1914, in Chicago, Illinois. While Veeck was growing up in Hinsdale, Illinois, his father, William Veeck, Sr., became president of the Chicago Cubs. Veeck Sr. was a local sports writer who wrote several columns about how he would have run the Cubs differently, and the team's owner, William Wrigley Jr., took him up on it. While growing up, Bill Veeck worked as a popcorn vendor for the Cubs. At age 13, Veeck came up with the idea of planting ivy on the walls of Wrigley Field. (Bill Veeck Jr. was 23 years old when the ivy was planted). Veeck attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. In 1933, when his father died, Veeck left Kenyon College and eventually became club treasurer for the Cubs. In 1935 he married his first wife, Eleanor.
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