Born April 26th, 1927, in Cedar Rapids Iowa, Bill Cohea Jr. was a child of the Great Depression. The experiences of that time would shape the values and dreams of the man he would grow to be. His parents were hard working Midwesterners and a young Bill absorbed the values of hard work, thrift, and self-reliance so common in that time and place. 

Bill would join the U.S Navy and served in the Pacific Theatre in the aftermath of WWII as a naval corpsman. After his service, he was able to attend Northwestern University and the Princeton Theological Seminary on the G.I. Bill.