William Jefferson Blythe Jr.
| William Jefferson Blythe Jr. | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
February 27, 1918 Sherman, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | May 17, 1946 (aged 28) Sikeston, Missouri, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Drowning in car accident |
| Resting place | Rose Hill Cemetery, Hope, Arkansas, United States 33°40′43″N 93°35′26″W / 33.6786°N 93.5906°W |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation |
Traveling salesman, soldier |
| Employer | Manbee Equipment Company, U.S. Army |
| Known for | Biological father of Bill Clinton |
| Spouse(s) |
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| Children |
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| Parent(s) | William Jefferson Blythe, Sr. Lou Birchie Ayers |
| Relatives | Chelsea Clinton (granddaughter) |
William Jefferson "Bill" Blythe Jr. (February 27, 1918 – May 17, 1946) was an Arkansas salesman of heavy equipment and the biological father of Bill Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States.
Blythe was born as one of nine children to William Jefferson Blythe, Sr. (1884–1935), a poor farmer in Sherman, Texas, and his wife, the former Lou Birchie Ayers (1893–1946). He was of English and Scots descent, with family lines in North America since the days of the thirteen colonies.
Blythe was married four times. He married for the first time in December 1935 to Virginia Adele Gash; they were divorced only thirteen months later. Although no child was born to the couple during their marriage, they later had a son together. After the divorce, Virginia moved to California and married first a man named Coffelt, then a man named Charles Ritzenthaler. However, she and Blythe remained friends, and she visited him on occasion. A son was conceived during these visits, and Henry Leon Blythe was born in Sherman, Texas on 17 June 1938, some eighteen months after his parents had been divorced. Henry's parents lost touch with each other when he was an infant, after his father briefly married and divorced his mother's sister, and he never knew his biological father or paternal siblings. Later in life, Henry Leon Blythe took the name Henry Leon Ritzenthaler in honor of a step-father. He ran several small businesses in Paradise, California, including a janitorial business, and died in 2009. He was unaware of his connection to the future president until the presidential campaign of 1992, when an investigation by The Washington Post, based on birth registry records, revealed details of Bill Clinton's family. Ritzenthaler met his half-brother for the first time around that time, and the physical resemblance between them was remarked upon.
Blythe next married Minnie Faye Gash, his first wife's sister, in December 1940. The marriage was annulled only four months later, in April 1941, and there were no children. Shortly after the annulment, on 3 May 1941, Blythe married again. His third wife was Wanetta Ellen Alexander of Kansas City, Missouri, and the wedding was held in Jackson County, Missouri. Wanetta gave birth to Blythe's daughter on 11 May 1941, eight days after their wedding. She had become pregnant with Blythe's child prior to his short-lived second marriage to Minnie. Sharon Lee Blythe Pettijohn is the daughter of Wanetta and Blythe, and is still alive in 2016. Blythe and Wanetta were formally divorced three years later, in April 1944. They lost touch immediately afterwards; Wanetta, who eventually settled in Tucson, Arizona, had no inkling of Blythe's subsequent history until the presidential campaign of 1992 and the Washington Post story. Upon seeing old photographs of Bill Clinton's father flashed on TV, Wanetta "swears on a stack of Bibles ... that that was the man she was married to", said her son-in-law Bob Pettijohn, husband of her daughter Sharon.
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Wikipedia