William "Bill" Hadden was born on June 2, 1921, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but shortly afterwards his family moved to Maple Shade, New Jersey.

He received his Master of Divinity degree from the Graduate School of Education at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, as part of the V-12 Navy College Training Program, in 1946.

Hadden served as a stateside military chaplain in the US Navy as a Lieutenant (junior grade) during World War II, from June 1944 until December 1949.

Hadden was the first chairman of Greenville's "Good Neighbor Council" formed of black and white citizens united to fight Racial segregation.

Terry Sanford encouraged local Good Neighbor Councils to consider, promote and adjudicate in questions of programs of racial nature.

The Greenville Good Neighbor Council was cited by the city, county and state officials as the most significant agency in assisting the community in weathering a most traumatic period.

Bill Hadden, Episcopal Chaplain at East Carolina University and until five years ago an ordained minister in the Christian Church.

After a series of three strokes, Hadden died on June 14, 1995, and is buried in Pinewood Memorial Cemetery,[17] in Greenville, North Carolina.