William E. Maritz
Chairman
Maritz
Laureate 2006
Bill was born and raised in St. Louis and always loved our city. He attended John Burroughs School, where he was a fine student and good athlete, playing on the first undefeated varsity football team in the history of JBS. In addition to playing football, soccer, and tennis, Bill was speaker of the assembly in his senior year. He went to Princeton University and studied public and international affairs. He also was president of the Princeton Glee Club. During the Korean War, Bill proudly served three years in the United States Navy as operations officer on a rocket launcher off the West Coast of Korea. After returning from service in 1953, he joined the Maritz family business as a salesman, learning the business from the ground up. With lots of hard work, Bill eventually became the company’s president, CEO, and chairman of the board. Bill helped his family’s business grow over the years. He expanded Maritz’ headquarters to a 200-acre campus in southwest St. Louis County, located on both sides of Interstate 44 and connected with an enclosed pedestrian bridge spanning the width of
the highway. Bill also was greatly involved with the community, helping found Fair St. Louis, one of the nation’s largest Fourth of July celebrations, and led the effort to renovate Laclede’s Landing on the St. Louis riverfront. Bill’s company motto was work hard, have fun, get the job done … and that’s just what Bill did. He enjoyed life, laughter, teasing, practical jokes, and good, old-fashioned horseplay, but still had time to get the job done. He made every person feel special, because he believed every person was special. No matter the job or the title, he gave everyone the same level of dignity and respect that he wanted.
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