Early Life
Milliken was born in Traverse City, Michigan, the second child in a family familiar with the intricacies of public service. His father, James T. Milliken, served as mayor of Traverse City and as Michigan State Senator for the 27th District, 1941–50, and his mother Hildegarde (née Grawn) had been elected to the Traverse City school board; the first woman elected to public office there. Milliken's paternal grandfather James W. also served as a Michigan State Senator from the 27th District, 1898-1900.
Upon graduating from high school, Milliken entered Yale University, where he met his future wife, Helen Wallbank. In 1942, he interrupted his studies to enlist in the Army Reserve Corps and, in early 1943, volunteered for the Army Air Corps. During World War II he flew 50 combat missions as a waist-gunner on B-24 bombers and survived two crash landings. He received seven military honors, including the Purple Heart and Air Medal.
On October 20, 1945, one month after he was discharged honorably, he and Helen were married. The couple had two children: a daughter, Elaine, a lawyer and feminist, who died of cancer in 1993, and a son, William, Jr. The following spring, Milliken graduated from Yale. William and Helen Milliken moved to Traverse City, Michigan that year and he became president of J.W. Milliken, Inc., a department store founded by his grandfather, and later run by his father. Helen W. Milliken died, aged 89, on November 16, 2012 at her Traverse City home, following a battle with ovarian cancer.
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