WILLIAM FRED FOEHL SR. was born on April 20, 1892 in what was then Stockton Township, the present-day Cramer Hill section of Camden, New Jersey. His parents were Wilhelmina "Minnie" and John Gottlob Foehl, and he was the youngest of three children coming after brother John and sister Minnie. His parents had come to New Jersey sometime after Minnie was born in July of 1888. The family lived at 1045 Cambridge Street when the census was taken in 1900. John Gottlob Foehl was then in business as a beer bottler, with his place of business next door at 1041 Cambridge Street. John Gottlob Foehl died not long after the 1910 Census. The 1914 Camden City Directory shows the business as John G. Foehl's Sons with the home and business addresses the same. William F. Foehl Sr. was soon married and in November of 1915 his wife Minnie bore a son, William F. Foehl Jr. On June 5 of 1917 William F. Foehl Sr. registered for the draft. He was still in the bottling business, but by this time was living at 412 North 27th Street in East Camden. In 1919 Prohibition was enacted and by the following year, William Foehl Sr. was working as a streetcar conductor. By 1924 William Foehl Sr. and family had moved to 2731 Sherman Avenue in Cramer Hill. He was then working as a huckster.

On March 16, 1925 William F. Foehl Sr. was appointed to the Camden Fire Department. He reported to Ladder Company 2 the same day. In June he was transferred to Engine Company 4. On August 6, 1925 William F. Foehl was again transferred, this time to Ladder Company 3 in East Camden. The 1929 City Directories show William F. Foehl Sr. residing at 2731 Sherman Avenue. He and his family remained at that address through the spring of 1935. By 1940 the Foehl's had moved to 6220 Westfield Avenue in Pennsauken.

Tragedy struck the Foehl family during World War II when son William F. Foehl Jr. was killed in action in France on July 28, 1944. He was brought home after the war and buried at Arlington Cemetery in Pennsauken.

William F. Foehl Sr. remained with Ladder Company 3 until his retirement on January 1, 1954. He was replaced on the Fire Department by Carmen Ianelli. 

William Foehl passed away in July of 1962, He survived by his wife Florence, who remained in the area until her death on December 31, 1990.