William Clay Ford Sr.
| William Clay Ford Sr. | |
|---|---|
Ford in 1961
|
|
| Born |
March 14, 1925 Detroit, Michigan |
| Died | March 9, 2014 (aged 88) Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan |
| Cause of death | Pneumonia |
| Resting place | Woodlawn Cemetery (Detroit, Michigan) |
| Nationality | American |
| Education |
Hotchkiss School (1943) Yale University (BEc) |
| Occupation | |
| Net worth |
 $1.4 billion (2013) |
| Spouse(s) | Martha Parke Firestone (1947–2014) |
| Children |
|
| Parent(s) |
|
William Clay Ford Sr. (March 14, 1925 – March 9, 2014) was the youngest child of Edsel Ford and was the last surviving grandchild of Henry Ford. Ford served on the boards of Ford Motor Company and the Edison Institute. Ford owned the Detroit Lions National Football League (NFL) franchise.
Born on March 14, 1925, in Detroit, Michigan to Edsel Ford and Eleanor Lowthian Clay, Ford served in the U.S. Navy Air Corps during World War II. Following the war, Ford married Martha Parke Firestone, the granddaughter of Harvey Firestone and Idabelle Smith Firestone, on June 21, 1947. They had four children together: Martha Parke Morse (b. 1948); Sheila Firestone Hamp (b. 1951); William Clay Ford Jr. (b. 1957); and Elizabeth Hudson Ford (b. 1961). William first met Martha at a lunch in New York arranged and attended by both of their mothers, according to the biography The Fords. Martha then was a Vassar student who had the college nickname “Stoney.” William was a naval cadet at St. Mary's U.S. Navy Pre-Flight School .They married on June 21, 1947 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Akron, Ohio. By that time both families had acquired considerable wealth, and the matchup between the grandchildren of two empire-builders was reported by numerous news outlets. The Akron Beacon Journal called the Firestone-Ford nuptials “the biggest society wedding in Akron’s history” and “the biggest show Akron has seen in years” in numerous articles chronicling the event. The couple received gifts from F.B.I. Director J. Edgar Hoover, media publisher John S. Knight, and Mina Miller Edison.
...
Wikipedia