William Specht, who co-founded Cousins Subs in 1972, died on May 9 at the age of 80.
A visitation for Specht is set for today at 3 p.m., followed by a service at 6 p.m. at Grace Lutheran Church (W196 N9525 Cross View Way) in Menomonee Falls.
Born in 1944 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Specht was the oldest of four children. He served in the U.S. Navy as a torpedoman on the USS Huntington from 1963 to 1967. After his honorable discharge in 1967, he and his wife, Sandra “Sandy” Specht, who he married in 1964, moved to Milwaukee.
After being laid off from his job in the printing industry, Specht pursued his dream of “bringing East Coast-style sub sandwiches to Milwaukee,” according to an obituary published by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. His cousin, the late James Sheppard, moved to Milwaukee and the two teamed up to form Cousins Subs in 1972.
“Many wonder how the name Cousins Subs came to be. After a late-night meeting with Jim, Sandy and Bill, it was Sandy that came up with the name that was so fitting. A new brand was born and their lives would never be the same. Bill applied that same work ethic he had in New Jersey to his work at Cousins and he soon found success,” according to the obituary.
Specht served as chief executive officer of the Menomonee Falls-based sub sandwich chain until 2015, handing the reins to his daughter Christine Specht upon his retirement. Today, Cousins operates more than 100 sub shops, most in Wisconsin and Illinois, along with two in Indianapolis.
“He really valued the contributions his employees, franchisees and vendors made to the company. Even in retirement, he would visit stores, talk with franchisees, meet with support center staff, and speak to the restaurant general managers,” according to the obituary.
Specht made giving back to the community a priority for Cousins Subs, establishing, with Sheppard, a charitable foundation that annually contributed to a variety of organizations. That led to the launch of Cousins’ Make It Better Foundation in 2013. To date, the foundation has provided $250,000 in scholarships to student athletes and Cousins Subs employees, more than $1 million in grant funds to more than 200 nonprofits in Wisconsin, $400,000 to the Vince Lombardi Cancer Foundation and Starr Children’s Fund to fight cancer, and more than $151,000 to Hunger Task Force and its affiliated pantries to fight food insecurity.
Outside of work, Specht enjoyed playing golf at North Hills Country Club as well as competitive card games and spending time with family and friends.
