William Starks Moorhouse and his brother, Robert, were in high school in Erie, Pennsylvania  when they formed a dance band, the Mac Moor orchestra.

Though a year apart in age — William was younger — they both graduated in 1939 from Strong Vincent High School, where they performed with the band and in musical comedies. William also played on the golf team and in the orchestra. He then attended the Erie Conservatory of Music.

William was born Aug. 14, 1922 in Wichita, Kansas, to Harold Moorhouse, a car salesman, and Bonnie Stark Moorhouse, a homemaker. His father was a Marine and his mother a Navy nurse during World War I.

By early 1930 the family had moved to Erie. They were still living there in early 1940, but later that year returned to Wichita.

When William applied to the Navy there on Sept. 6, 1940, he said he’d worked as a draftsman for four month at Parker White Metal Co. in Erie.

He enlisted on Sept. 23, 1940, and joined the band of the U.S.S. Arizona as a cornet player. He was a musician and petty officer second class when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941. All 21 band members died after they rushed to their battle station in the ammunition hold above the forward powder magazines, which exploded when the battleship was bombed, sinking the ship.

His brother was commissioned as an ensign in the Naval Reserve as an aviator in 1946. His previous active service is unclear from public records.

Sources: the Wichita (Kansas) Beacon story and photo; the Wichita Evening Eagle; the Warren (Pennsylvania) Times Mirror; The Daily Republican of Monongahela, Pennsylvania; the Salamanca (New York) Republican; Erie (Pennsylvania) Morning News; 1939 Strong Vincent High School yearbook; Census; Navy enlistment records and muster roll; Pennsylvania Veterans Burial Card; WWI Pennsylvania Veterans Service and Compensation file’ “USS Arizona’s Last Band,” by Molly Kent. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.