William Leonard Jolitz was born 1917? in Duluth Minnesota. He attended Denfeld High, went to the local junior college. He was a local sports figure in skiing, ice hockey, and football, rising to the level of winning quarterback in junior college. He entered the U.S. Army.

He served in World War II, primarily as a medical corpsman, but also took part in the debriefing of captured enemy soldiers as a translator. He was part of various Allied actions, including the "Battle of the Bulge" in Belgium. He never spoke much about the war to family and friends, but it made a life long impact on him.

Following the war, he used the G.I. bill to attend the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis to obtain a Bachelors Degree in Chemical Engineering.