THE INDUSTRY LOSES A LEGEND

We regret to inform you that Bill Wirtz died yesterday at Evanston Hospital in Illinois after a battle with cancer. He was 77.In the wine and spirits industry, Bill is best known for the Wirtz Beverage Group. He took over the flagship operation of Judge & Dolph in Illinois in 1950, and grew the business into a four-state operation comprised of five distributorships operating in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Nevada. Bill was also president of the family-owned Chicago Blackhawks hockey