William C. D’Arcy, president of the D’Arcy Advertising Company of St. Louis, his native city, was born September 1, 1873. His father, Henry 1. D’Arcy, a native of Ireland, came to America in 1865; making his way direct to St. Louis, where he resided throughout his remaining days and where he won success as a member of the bar. He was a graduate of Trinity College of Dublin and his thorough training, his ready adaptability and keenly analytical mind were salient factors in his success. He passed away in 1889, when but forty-two years of age. In early manhood he had wedded Hattie Cheever, a native of St. Louis and a daughter of the late Warren A. Cheever, a member of one of the prominent families of this city. Mrs. D’Arcy is still living and by her marriage she became the mother of seven children, of whom three ,sons and two daughters survive.
William C. D’Arcy, the eldest of the family, was educated in the public schools of St. Louis and when eighteen years of age started out to earn his own living, his initial step in the business world being made as an employe of the N. O. Nelson Manufacturing Company. On the 23d of August, 1906, he organized the D’Arcy Advertising Company, starting the business on a very small scale but developing it until his is one of the leading firms of the kind in the United States, employing about one hundred people. His business extends to every civilized country on the face of the globe. In addition to the advertising business he is a director of the State National Bank of St. Louis, a director and a member of the executive committee of the Cocoa-Cola Company, Atlanta, Georgia, a Delaware corporation. He has been active in the Associated Advertising Clubs of the World since its inception and was the war president from July, 1917, to September, 1919. He has been characterized by one who has known him throughout his business career as a man of “scrupulous integrity, untiring and intelligent, and displaying unfaltering energy in promoting the highest standards of business ethics.” Another has spoken of him as “an advertising man of unusual ability who by his own efforts has built up one of the largest agencies in the country and stands today at the very top of his profession. He is a clear thinker and a man of the highest ideals, who would scorn to do anything that was not absolutely right.”
On the 21st of August, 1907, Mr. D’Arcy was married in Toronto, Canada, to Miss Ruby Frazee, a native of that country and a daughter of J. H. Frazee. To Mr. and Mrs. D’Arcy have been born two children: Helen, born September 25, 1907; and William C., Jr., born in St. Louis, July 25, 1912.
In politics Mr. D’Arcy may be termed an independent republican. Fraternally he is connected with Tuscan Lodge, No. 360, A. F. & A. M., and has attained the thirtysecond degree of the Scottish Rite. He belongs to the Noonday Club, to the Missouri Athletic Association, to the Sunset Hill Country Club and the Bellerive Country Club. He gives liberally to all philanthropic appeals that are made to him and was extremely active in the various war campaigns, contributing generously of his time and money and acting as an advisory committee to the various governmental departments in their advertising activities. He is also a most generous supporter and promoter of every enterprise that looks to the civic and moral uplift of the community in which he lives. He has the ability to state in a convincing way any fact or truth which he wishes to bring to the public and his clear presentation of a cause has made him an influencing factor in many projects and concerns which have been of great benefit to the community, the commonwealth and the country.