John Doar was born on December 3, 1921, and lived just west of here at 510 West First Street with his parents, William Thomas Doar, Sr. and Mary Frances (May) Doar, and his older brother, William Thomas Doar, Jr. (Tom). As boys, John and Tom explored the island in the Willow River and attended Immaculate Conception Church. During those years, the Doar boys were close to two cousins who were also New Richmond residents: John V. McNally, later known as Johnny Blood, a Shakespeare-quoting halfback for the Green Bay Packers, and Warren P. Knowles, Jr., who later became Governor of Wisconsin in the 1960s.