section_path: Early life
section_name: Early life
paragraph_text: Early life
  
  Though he sometimes joked that he had been born on an oleo run to nearby Illinois (margarine was prohibited in the dairy state of Wisconsin for many years), on January 26, 1934, Uecker was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was the son of Michigan native Mary (née Schultz) and August "Gus" Uecker. August Uecker had emigrated from Switzerland in 1923. Bob also had two younger sisters, Carol Ann and Rosemary. He grew up watching the minor-league Milwaukee Brewers of the American Association at Borchert Field.
  
  Uecker enlisted in the US Army in 1954, ultimately achieving the rank of corporal. He played baseball while at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri and Fort Belvoir in Virginia, where he was teammates with future fellow major leaguer Dick Groat.
  
  Though he sometimes joked that he had been born on an oleo run to nearby Illinois (margarine was prohibited in the dairy state of Wisconsin for many years), on January 26, 1934, Uecker was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was the son of Michigan native Mary (née Schultz) and August "Gus" Uecker. August Uecker had emigrated from Switzerland in 1923. Bob also had two younger sisters, Carol Ann and Rosemary. He grew up watching the minor-league Milwaukee Brewers of the American Association at Borchert Field.
  
  Uecker enlisted in the US Army in 1954, ultimately achieving the rank of corporal. He played baseball while at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri and Fort Belvoir in Virginia, where he was teammates with future fellow major leaguer Dick Groat.