William Malkmus Papers, 1917-1921 | University of Illinois Archives

William Otto Malkmus arrived at the University of Illinois in the fall of 1917, having traveled from his hometown of Kansas City, MO.  He immediately became an involved student, competing in swimming events, being named a freshman manager of the interclass basketball team, and joining the “Committee on Soph Caps” for the freshman class.  Later, he sat on the Senior Banquet Committee, the Commerce Dance Committee, and helped the junior class put together the 1920 Illio as a sophomore.

In 1918, he was selected as one of 91 men from the Students’ Army Training Corps to attend the Army’s Central Officers’ Infantry Schools.  He trained at Fort Monroe, Virginia, in heavy artillery, recording his experiences in a diary and then receiving course credit upon his return to the University.  He was honorably discharged a few months later.

As was typical for male students of the time, he joined a fraternity – Acanthus, which became the Zeta chapter of Sigma Phi Sigma in the spring of 1919.  He published several satirical newsletters – “Ye Daily,” “The Back-Room Gazette,” and “Ye Daily Wipe” – and participated in numerous fraternity events.  He also was a member of the honor societies Beta Gamma Sigma and Beta Alpha Psi, the Commerce Club, and the Tribe of Illini (a group of notable athletes).

Finally, his most notable accomplishments at the University of Illinois were in athletics, where he received a “Major I” letter in water basketball.  He captained the U of I squad to a conference championship in the spring of 1921 and was an all-star member of the Spalding Intercollegiate Swimming Guide’s water basketball team.  He also swam competitively, recording several first-place finishes.

During his time in Champaign-Urbana, he also attended myriad events – football games, circuses, track meets, swimming meets, May Fete celebrations, carnivals, and dances (hosted by fraternities, sororities, classes, and clubs).  In the letter accompanying his scrapbook and letter sweater to the University Archives, his son Stephen surmised that his father might have been a “big man on campus.”  The dozens of Daily Illini articles detailing his exploits, along with the ephemera, correspondence, and other memorabilia preserved in his scrapbook, confirm this many times over.

Following his graduation, he was employed with Dilts and Morgan, grain merchants, in Kansas City, MO.  Later, he followed "the lure of the west" and moved to California, where he married Katharine Fisher in 1932.  He worked for the Henry Lumber Company until his death in 1980.  He was a pillar of the community, being a block warden during World War II and Freemason.

At his funeral, he was eulogized as follows: "Pop was a quiet man with many feelings inside... a proud man of great integrity..a steady man... a gentleman... a family man...a sweet and caring husband and wonderful father."