Henry ford wife and family
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Edsel and Eleanor Ford enjoyed a sweet and loving marriage and were doting and attentive parents to their children Henry II, Benson, Josephine, and William Clay.
They enjoyed a warm and affectionate family life, full of quality time spent together. Here at Ford House, they watched movies together, swam in the pool, celebrated birthdays, played squash and tennis, or went out on Lake St. Clair on Edsel’s boats. Edsel and Eleanor loved to give gifts to their children and take them to sporting events. Family vacations were frequent – to Maine, to Florida, and even trips to Europe. Edsel would bring his camera and take photos and movies of his family.
When the children grew up and went off to school, the family would write letters to each other frequently. Once Eleanor’s children were grown and married, they would visit often and bring their children to visit “Granny” and play here on the estate.
Josephine and Bill Ford,
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How a traffic stop thrust Kathy DuRoss into gossipy stardom with Henry Ford II
In February , police stopped a Ford Granada automobile driving the wrong way on a street near Santa Barbara, California. Inside were Henry Ford II, the company’s celebrated chairman and grandson of founder Henry Ford, and Kathleen DuRoss, a single mother of two from metro Detroit nearly a quarter of a century younger than Ford. He was married at the time.
That police stop — Ford eventually pleaded no contest to drunken driving and paid a fine — became international news because Ford was a swaggering, old-school tycoon with his name atop the Glass House, Ford Motor Co.'s headquarters in Dearborn. He ran one of the world’s best-known firms and lived the life of a globe-trotting playboy.
Days later, when Ford appeared at an industry function in Detroit, Free Press reporter Julie Morris asked him what he was doing in California with Kathleen DuRoss. Smiling, Ford shook his finger in mock anger and said: “
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Eleanor and Edsel Ford designed their estate at Gaukler Pointe to reflect their public roles as well as their private values – grand and gracious, a stately mansion inspired by cozy cottages. Here they kept their family safe and surrounded themselves with art and nature.
Both Eleanor and Edsel were raised in Detroit in families with similar interests and a strong sense of social responsibility.
Edsel B. Ford (—) was the only child of Clara and Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company. Eleanor Lowthian Clay (—) was born the same year Henry Ford motored around Detroit in his first experimental car. After Eleanor’s father died when she was 12 years old, she moved into the art-filled home of her uncle, Joseph L. Hudson, owner of Detroit’s premier department store.
Although the couple may have lived less simply than most Americans, they created a warm, loving family life that sustained them through the years.
Four children arrived in quick succession from to , coming of age when th