Dr. William A. Dillon, physician and surgeon of St. Louis, his native city, was born August 3, 1879, a son of Judge Daniel and Mary Jane (Fox) Dillon. The father was a native of Missouri, born at High Ridge and was a son of the late Philip Dillon, a native of County Clare, Ireland, who coming to America in early life, settled in Missouri and here devoted his attention to agriculture and stock raising. His son, Judge Dillon, was graduated from the Washington University in 1869 as a member of the first class to complete the law course. Before his college days were over, however, he bad rendered active military aid to the government, having enlisted in a Missouri regiment for service with the Union army during the Civil war. He served throughout the period of hostilities in defense of the Union and was wounded in one or two engagements. In politics he was always a stanch democrat and was very active and earnest in support of the principles which he deemed vital in matters of public welfare. He supported many interests of civic good and served for twelve years on the bench as circuit judge. In many ways he left the impress of his individuality and ability for good upon the history of the commonwealth. He was a devout Roman Catholic and very active in church circles and he served as attorney for Archbishop Kane and also for Archbishop Glennon. For ten years he filled the office of president of St. Vincent de Paul Society and was likewise president of the St. Louis Orphans Board for many years. Of him it might be said as it was of the Nazarene whose example he followed “he went about doing good.” His death occurred in St. Louis in 1913, when he had reached the age of seventy-four years. His wife was a daughter of the late James Fox, a native of Ireland and one of the early settlers of St. Louis. Mrs. Dillon was reared and educated In St. Louis and for many years was a teacher in the public schools of the city. She is today among the oldest of the former educators of St. Louis who are living. She was born in 1844 and is enjoying good health. By her marriage she became the mother of six children, four sons and two daughters, all of whom survive.
Dr. Dillon, the third in order of birth, was educated in the parochial schools of St. Louis and in St. Louis University, from which he was graduated with the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1897. He afterward became a student in the Washington University, winning his M. D. degree in 1901, and following his graduation he served for two years as interne in the City Hospital and later entered upon private practice, in which he has been continuously and successfully engaged through the intervening years. He holds to high professional standards and is most conscientious in the performance of his duties as a physician and surgeon. He belongs to the St. Louis Medical Society, the St. Louis City Hospital Alumni Association, the Missouri State Medical Association and the American Medical Association.
On the 12th of December, 1905, Dr. Dillon was married in St. Louis to Miss Anna Homeyer, a native of New York city and a daughter of Edward Homeyer. They have one son, Edward George, who was born April 12, 1906, in St. Louis.
In his political views Dr. Dillon has always been a stalwart democrat and was a candidate on the party ticket for the office of city coroner but was caught in the great republican landslide in 1917. During the World war he served on the twenty first ward medical advisory and examining board. He largely finds his diversion in outdoor sports, enjoys all kinds of athletics and is a noted pedestrian. He is the president of the St. Louis Hiking Club and during his college days in the St. Louis University and in the Washington University headed all athletic interests. The name of Dillon has for three generations figured prominently in connection with the history of Missouri. The name of Judge Dillon is engraved high on the keystone of the legal arch, while that of his son, Dr. Dillon, has an equally prominent position in connection with the medical profession.