William Wallace Kent was born in Galesburg, Michigan

Galesburg, Michigan

Galesburg is a city in Kalamazoo County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,009 at the 2010 census.Galesburg is on the north side of the Kalamazoo River on the boundary between Comstock Charter Township on the west and Charleston Township on the east, but is politically independent...

 the son of Harold S. Kent and Alice W. Kent. He graduated from Kalamazoo Central High School

Kalamazoo Central High School

Kalamazoo Central High School is a public high school in Kalamazoo, Michigan serving students from ninth through twelfth grades. It was the first public high school in Michigan. It began operating in 1858 and graduated its first class of five men and three women in 1859. It moved to its current...

 in 1933. In 1937 he received an A. B. degree from Western Michigan University

Western Michigan University

Western Michigan University is a public university located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. The university was established in 1903 by Dwight B. Waldo, and as of the Fall 2010 semester, its enrollment is 25,045....

. He obtained his legal education at the University of Michigan Law School

University of Michigan Law School

The University of Michigan Law School is the law school of the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. Founded in 1859, the school has an enrollment of about 1,200 students, most of whom are seeking Juris Doctor or Master of Laws degrees, although the school also offers a Doctor of Juridical...

 where he was an editor of the Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The Michigan Law Review is an American law reviews established in 1902, after Gustavus Ohlinger, a student in the Law Department of the University of Michigan, approached the Dean with a proposal for a law journal. The Michigan Law Review was originally intended as a forum in which the faculty of...

and was elected to the Order of the Coif

Order of the Coif

The Order of the Coif is an honor society for United States law school graduates. A student at an American law school who earns a Juris Doctor degree and graduates in the top 10 percent of his or her class is eligible for membership if the student's law school has a chapter of the...

. He graduated with honors with a J.D. degree in 1940.

He served as an assistant Kalamazoo County prosecutor and Friend of the Court from 1941 until 1944.