Photo courtesy of the Warren County Historical Society William Burkhart’s senior photo in the 1917 Warren High School yearbook.

If the New York Times writes an article upon your death, it’s fair to say you really accomplished some things in life.

In the case of William Hoodle Burkhart, those accomplishments included the creation of the first liquid dish detergent and the first margarine purported to taste like butter.

But let’s backtrack a little bit.

Burkhart was born on April 26, 1899, in Warren, to Louis H. Burkhart and Elizabeth Hoodle, who lived on Laurel St.

He was a member of the 1917 Warren High School graduating class and was heavily involved in school activities, per the yearbook: Hi-Y Club, Dragon Board, Editor-in-Chief of November Blue and White, Dramatic Club, Pageant, Class Basket Ball, Mandolin Club and as a cast member in “She Stoops to Conquer.”

Photo courtesy of the Warren County Historical Society The 1917 Warren High School “Dragon” yearbook.

One of 62 members of the class, his biography in the yearbook pokes fun at his hairstyle.

“Bill has just lately taken to parting his hair in the middle. Isn’t he sweet? However, he is another of the kind that wins their way in this world by a pleasing personality, and, despite the horrible offense of splitting his hair on top, he is a ‘much-needed’ senior.”

He won the superlative of “Biggest Eater,” as well, because, you know, I guess we’ve all got to be known for something.

The New York Times article notes that Burkhart’s father was a mechanical engineer and that Burkhart earned his Bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering at the University of Pennsylvania “and got his first job in the analytical laboratory of the Procter & Gamble Company in Cincinnati.”

More from the New York Times: “In 1925 he joined the Gold Dust Corporation in New York and later became manager of its plant in Baltimore. After the consolidation of Gold Dust and Hecker Products Corporation, another soap company, in 1934, Mr. Burkhart was appointed the

Photo courtesy of the Warren County Historical Society From the 1917 Warren High School, William Burkhart is fourth from the left in this image of the Class Basket Ball team.

“In 1938 Lever Brothers purchased the soap business of Hecker Products and named Mr. Burkhart manager of its Baltimore plant. In 1950, after a series of promotions, he was elected a director of the company and vice president in charge of production, research and development, and purchasing.”

“Among his responsibilities at that time was the construction of Lever House, the company’s noted glasses and stainless-steel headquarters at 390 Park Avenue.”

The Lever House is a 307-foot-tall skyscraper on Park Ave. in Midtown Manhattan. It was subsequently added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. It was originally built to be the American home of Lever Brothers, which is a British company.

The firm was part of Unilever, the first modern multinational corporation. Unilever remains in business with total equity of over $12 billion.,

Burkhart was subsequently elected president of Lever Brothers in 1955 and “developed new products at a pace reported to be unparalleled in the company’s history, and scored a number of firsts in the industry.”