 He won a football scholarship to Duke University but returned to Illinois Wesleyan University to be near his high-school sweetheart; his father withdrew his financial support and he worked his way through college, graduating in 1946.After service as a pilot in the Navy, he joined Sears in 1946, beginning at the Danville store.Telling rose to manage the Eastern and then the Midwestern territories of the Sears retailing division, became Senior Executive Vice President for all Sears stores in 1976, then on February 1, 1978, became chairman and CEO of the company, succeeding Arthur Wood.