After graduating from McKinley Technology High School in Washington, D.C., he was appointed to the United States Military Academy.

He graduated from West Point in 1927 with a Bachelor of Science degree and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the infantry.

[1] One of his early assignments was with the first tank destroyer battalion to be organized in the United States Army.

On 16 November 1960, he married Therese Susan Graves (née Fischer), from San Antonio, Texas.

[5] In retirement, he served as mayor of Terrell Hills, Texas, and was active in the San Antonio chapter of the Association of the United States Army, which established a scholarship in his name in 1970.