William “Bill” Irwin was a local tennis star with national rankings before becoming a community business leader.
He dominated the local tennis courts in winning 17 of what was the then the amateur City Tennis Championship titles between 1927 and 1951. Newspaper articles in the 1940s called him “Mr. Tennis.”
He was headed to college when he beat his father Earle in the final match 7-5, 6-3, 6-3 to win his first City title, and they teamed up as a father-son duo to win the City doubles titles several times over the years. Bill’s son, Win, also became a City champion.
At Grand Rapids Central High Bill won what was then regarded as the state high school singles championship and in college he was a tennis standout primarily at No. 1 singles for Princeton University (1929-32) where he was also the team captain his final two seasons and was ranked among the top amateurs in the country.
After World War II, he was the second of four Irwin family members to lead the Irwin Seating Company, which has been a leading furniture company in Grand Rapids for over 100 years and was first run by his father Earle. William, who retired as president in 1984 giving way to his son Win, also served the community as a president of the YMCA, as a president of the Rotary Club, as a trustee for then Butterworth Hospital, through being board member at Fountain Street Church and as a local leader among furniture manufacturers.