Editing Charles H. Percy (section)

==Early life and education==
Charles Harting Percy was born in [[Pensacola, Florida|Pensacola]], the seat of [[Escambia County, Florida|Escambia County]] in far northwestern [[Florida]], the son of Edward H. Percy and the former Elizabeth Harting.<ref name="NYTobit"/> His father, an [[Alabama]] native descended from illustrious colonial-era [[Mississippi]]ans and [[Virginia]]ns, was at various times an automobile salesman and bank cashier. His Illinois-born mother was a [[violin|concert violinist]]. Edward was a son of Charles Brown Percy and Helen Leila Herndon of the powerful Herndon family of Virginia.<ref>[http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=REG&db=dowfam3&id=I178405 "Edward H. Percy"], Rootsweb</ref><ref>{{cite journal |jstor=4242470 <!-- |author-link=John W. Herndon --> |first=John W. |last=Herndon |title=A Genealogy of the Herndon Family |journal=[[The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography]] |volume=9 |issue=4 |date=April 1902 |pages=439–441 |publisher=[[Virginia Historical Society]]}}{{subscription required}}</ref> Elizabeth Harting was a daughter of Phineas Fredrick Harting and Belle Aschenbach.<ref>[http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=REG&db=dowfam3&id=I178404 "Elizabeth Harting"], Rootsweb</ref>

The family moved to [[Chicago, Illinois|Chicago]] when Percy was an infant. As a child, he had entrepreneurial energy and held jobs while attending school. In the mid-1930s, his pluck brought him to the attention of his [[Sunday school]] teacher, Joseph McNabb, the president of [[Bell & Howell]], then a small [[camera]] company.

Percy completed high school at [[New Trier High School]]. He entered the [[University of Chicago]] on a half tuition scholarship, and worked his way through college with several part-time jobs.  He completed his degree in [[economics]] in 1941, and was a member of the [[Alpha Delta Phi]] fraternity.<ref name=WaPo_obit/><ref name="NYTobit"/>