William G. Rohrer
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William G. Rohrer | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 15, 1909 |
| Died | September 23, 1989 (aged 79) New Jersey, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Businessman and politician |
| Spouses | Floretta Tulk
(m. 1942, divorced)Mimi (m. 1982) |
| Children | 5 |
William G. Rohrer II (December 15, 1909 – September 23, 1989) was an American businessman and Republican Party politician. He was the founder and chairman of the First Peoples Bank of New Jersey, the first bank in South Jersey to attain $1 billion in deposits. He served as the first Mayor of Haddon Township, New Jersey, from 1951 to 1987, for 36 years.[1][2]
He was born on December 15, 1909, in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. He married Floretta Tulk in 1942; the couple had four daughters, Wilma Abrams, Linda Rohrer, Carol Moss and Eileen Rohrer. The marriage ended in divorce. Roher married Mimi in 1982, the couple had an adopted son, William G. Rohrer 3d.[1][2]
In 1984 his wife went to trial on charges of murdering the couple's adopted 2-year-old son.[3][4] The trial ended with a hung jury.[5]
In the 1980s his businesses suffered financial losses and his political popularity waned.[1]
Business career
His first jobs were working in his father's grocery store and at the small car dealership his father started in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, in the late 1920s. In 1929 Roher's father moved the car dealership, the Rohrer Chevrolet Agency, to Camden, New Jersey, to take advantage of an economic boom in South Jersey. He became owner of the dealership after his father's death in 1935, making his fortune by growing it into one of the largest in the nation by 1947.[1]
In 1955, Rohrer bought a small bank in South Jersey that held $2.9 million in deposits. He renamed it First Peoples Bank and under his ownership, it became one of the largest in the area. By 1970 it had more than $100 million in deposits; by the early 1980s, it had become the first billion-dollar bank in South Jersey.[1]