William J. Grede; John Birch Society Co-Founder

William J. Grede, 92, a prominent industrialist and a co-founder of the conservative John Birch Society. Grede served in World War I before returning home and buying a foundry in suburban Wauwatosa, Wis., in 1920. He established Grede Foundries, which became one of the nation’s largest independent producers of ductile iron and steel. In 1951-52 he was chosen president of the National Assn. of Manufacturers. Grede was one of the 11 people who in 1958 founded the John Birch Society, an ultraconservative political organization that opposes the spread of communism and the expansion of the U.S. government. In Brookfield, Wis., on Monday.