Life of Bill Sabourin

(I looked up information on my birth father, Bill Sabourin, in the Milwaukee City Directory and other sources in the Milwaukee County Historical Society.)

Bill Sabourin was born in 1903 in Minnesota. His mother's maiden name was Delainie, and in later years, he would often call himself Bill Delainie.

He was French-Irish and had a younger brother, Oliver, who lived in Milwaukee.

Bill was married in 1921 in Minneapolis, at the age of 18. He had two children and divorced at the age of 28 in 1931. His wife kept the kids.

He later moved to Milwaukee and remarried. They had no children, and his wife left him because of philandering. Apparently, Bill had several children out of wedlock, including me.

In 1939, at the age of 36, he met Lillian Aho, who was 26 at the time. His line was, "Do your eyes bother you?" This caught Lillian's attention, since she had poor eyesight. Then he said, "Well, they bother me."

Bill was about 5 foot 8 inches and had black, curly hair. According to Tyne, he was very good looking. He wore a overcoat with large shoulders and booster shoes. He told Lillian and Tyne that he was in the Secret Service. Later, Lillian was disappointed at how puny Bill really was.

Ronny was born in September 1940. Bill gave Lillian a $600 settlement.

In 1944, Bill had a filling station and was apparently arrested for dealing in the black market during war.

In 1944, 45, or 46, he stopped by Tyne's at 10th and Locust. He saw his son Ronny, which may have been the only time. Ronny remembers that he had a 1938 Dodge.

Oliver was listed in the phone book for a number of years, but there was nothing about Bill.