Born: 1898
Died: December 17, 1959

Roger “Terrible” Touhy was reportedly one of the few men who could force Al Capone (see entry) to blink in a confrontation. Framed for a crime he did not commit, he spent years in jail before he was finally paroled—only to be gunned down by someone who apparently held an old grudge.

From altar boy to oil man

The son of a policeman, Touhy was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1898. When he was ten years old, a kitchen stove exploded, killing his mother. Touhy moved with his father, two sisters, and five brothers from Chicago to the suburb of Downer’s Grove, Illinois. There, he and his seven siblings had a respectable upbringing. The young Touhy served as an altar boy at the neighborhood Catholic church and was a student at St. Joseph’s grade school, where...