William F. Specht, of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, was called home on May 9th, 2024, at the age of 80. After managing his declining health for a long while, Bill is enjoying a perfect game of golf in heaven followed by a game of gin.
Bill was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey on April 5th, 1944 to William F. Specht and Mary L. Sheppard. The oldest of 4 children, Bill worked hard early on and took many jobs to earn money. While his first job was as a blueprinter, one of his more memorable jobs was clamming in the bays of Atlantic City. He would tell stories of earning $.01 per clam he brought in. Some of those clams even made it to the Campbell Soup company. He enlisted in the Navy in January 1963 and was trained to be a torpedoman on the USS Huntington, a destroyer ship. He was based in Mayport, Florida. How ironic that his job was to destroy enemy submarines in the Navy, but then went on to have a successful career building submarines.
While in the Navy, he met his wife Sandra and they were married in December 1964. After an honorable discharge in 1967, he moved to Milwaukee and worked in the printing industry. After he was laid-off, he followed his dream of bringing east coast-style sub sandwiches to Milwaukee. He invited his cousin James Sheppard to move to Milwaukee as his partner, and from there, Cousins Subs began in 1972. Many wonder how the name Cousins Subs came to be. After a late-night meeting with Jim, Sandy and Bill, it was Sandy that came up with the name that was so fitting. A new brand was born and their lives would never be the same. Bill applied that same work ethic he had in New Jersey to his work at Cousins and he soon found success.
Cousins Subs grew in popularity and Bill always attributed that to two things; providing customers a great tasting product with its bread as the foundation of the brand and having the best, most dedicated employees. He really valued the contributions his employees, franchisees and vendors made to the company. Even in retirement, he would visit stores, talk with franchisees, meet with support center staff, and speak to the restaurant general managers. In any of those conversations his belief in doing what was right for the brand was always at the center, making sure the teams would stay focused on quality and our guests. After over 50 years, Cousins Subs is still serving great sandwiches and has become a statewide icon as one of the largest employers in southeast Wisconsin. Whenever someone would meet Bill, he was proud to share the story of Cousins.
Bill was also passionate about giving back to the community. Early on, Bill and his cousin established a foundation that would help a variety of organizations year after year. Today it is the Make It Better Foundation and until his passing he continued to personally support the foundation in its effort to reduce hunger, improve health and wellness, and increase the quality of youth education.
When Bill wasn’t working on his business, he could be found at North Hills Country Club. He joined the club in 1982. His love of golf was unparalleled and anyone that played a round with him knew that it would be competitive and include many side bets. Never counting him out, he happily collected from many friends and co-workers. During the winter, Bill would escape to Tequesta, Florida where he would enjoy weeks of warm weather and many more rounds of golf.
Bill was as competitive at cards as he was in golf and growing his business. Many hours were spent in the grill at North Hills playing gin with his friends. When he wasn’t there, he could be found at a blackjack table back home in Atlantic City. He also enjoyed many Sunday dinners with his grandchildren, who provided endless entertainment.
Bill was preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by his wife Sandra; children William (Bill Jr.) Fredrick Specht, and Christine Ann (John) Specht-Palmert; grandchildren Reagan William Palmert and Harrison John Palmert. Bill had a special relationship with and was like a father and grandfather to Nicholas and Kimberly Gierach, and their children, Noah, Quinn, Delaney, and Tessa. He is further survived by many loving relatives and his dedicated employees.
A visitation for Bill will be Thursday, May 16th from 3pm to the time of the Service at 6pm at Grace Lutheran Church on W196 N9525 Cross View Way, Menomonee Falls, WI. A private entombment at Wisconsin Memorial Park will be on Friday, May 17th.
People wishing to honor Bill’s lifelong commitment to his family, business and community can make donations to the Cousins Subs Make It Better Foundation or Grace Lutheran Church, Menomonee Falls.
