William Herbert Crook (April 18, 1925 – October 29, 1997) was an American preacher turned politician, national director of the

Volunteers in Service to America AmeriCorps VISTA is a national service program designed to alleviate poverty. President John F. Kennedy originated the idea for VISTA, which was founded as Volunteers in Service to America in 1965, and incorporated into the AmeriCorps network of ...

(VISTA) program and US Ambassador to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. William Herbert Crook was born in

Momence, Illinois Momence is a city and capital of Momence township, Illinois it is located in Kankakee County, Illinois, United States. The population was 3,171 at the 2000 census, and 3,310 in 2010. It is part of the Kankakee–Bradley Metropolitan Statisti ...

on April 18, 1925. In 1954, Crook married Eleanor Butt, daughter of

Howard Edward Butt Sr. Howard Edward Butt Sr. (April 9, 1895 – March 12, 1991) was an American businessman, and CEO of the H-E-B grocery store chain, which was founded by his mother, Florence Thornton Butt, in 1905. Early life Howard Butt was youngest of the three ...

, the founder of the

H-E-B H-E-B Grocery Company, LP, is an American privately held supermarket chain based in San Antonio, Texas, with more than 340 stores throughout the U.S. state of Texas, as well as in northeast Mexico. The company also operates Central Market, an u ...

grocery store chain. They had three children, William Crook Jr., Elizabeth Crook, and Noel Moore. He died on October 29, 1997, at the age of 72.

References

1925 births 1997 deaths People from Momence, Illinois Butt family Ambassadors of the United States to Australia Volunteers in Service to America administrators {{US-politician-stub