Gerald Rudolff Ford (December 9, 1890 – January 26, 1962) was an American businessman and

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

politician who was the stepfather of U.S. President Gerald Ford and for whom Ford legally changed his name.

Early life

Ford was born in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...

, where he raised the future President. His parents were George R. and Frances (Pixley) Ford.https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/N3RQ-89L The senior Ford's father George Ford died in a train accident in 1903 forcing him to drop out of school to support the family.The Fathers of American Presidents – Jeff C. Young – 1997 He was working as a paint salesman at the Grand Rapids Wood Finishing Company when he met the future president's mother Dorothy Ayer Gardner King. Dorothy had fled to Michigan from

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

in 1913, 16 days after the President's birth, claiming that her husband (and her son's birth father),

Leslie Lynch King Sr. Leslie Lynch King Sr. (July 25, 1884 – February 18, 1941) was the biological father of U.S. President Gerald Ford. Because of his alcoholism and abusive behavior, his wife, Dorothy Gardner, left him sixteen days after Ford's birth. Person ...

, had physically abused her. She came to Grand Rapids to be near her parents, Levi Addison Gardner and Adele Augusta Ayer Gardner, who lived in the town.

Family

The couple married on February 1, 1917 following Dorothy's divorce from King when the future president was three and began calling Dorothy's first son "Gerald." Gerald Rudolff Ford and Dorothy Ford had three children – sons Thomas Gardner Ford (July 15, 1918 – August 28, 1995); Richard Addison Ford (June 3, 1924 – March 20, 2015); and James Francis Ford (August 11, 1927 – January 23, 2001).Gerald R. Ford Genealogical Information
/ref> The president was to write later that in the household there were three rules for him and his half brothers: "tell the truth, work hard and come to dinner on time." The elder Ford founded the Ford Paint and Varnish Company in 1929 just before the Great Depression. After the Depression hit, Ford asked his employees to work for $5/week and likewise paid himself the same salary until all could be paid more. The future president was enrolled in the Grand Rapids school system under the name of his stepfather. When the president's birth father Leslie Lynch King reappeared in 1929 (or 1930 depending on accounts), he stopped at schools searching for a "Leslie King" before finding him at Grand Rapids South High School after asking for a "Junior Ford." The future president turned down an offer from his biological father to move with him to Wyoming. Leslie's father Charles King had been paying child support for Ford until 1929 when the stock market crash wiped out his fortune. After Leslie's father died, Dorothy sought an order to get money from the $50,000 Leslie had inherited. However, since Leslie had moved to Wyoming he was out of the jurisdiction of the Nebraska court. The elder Ford never legally adopted the president. The president changed his name in 1935 after the deaths of his paternal King family grandparents to an Anglicized version of his stepfather's name: Gerald Rudolph Ford.

Early career

The elder Ford was active on various functions including the formation of the Youth Commonwealth to help disadvantaged youth. He was director of the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce and chairman of the Kent County, Michigan Republican Committee from 1944 until 1948 when he stepped down after the future President began his first run for Congress. The elder Ford was active with his four sons in the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded ...

. The future President would be the first

Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle S ...

to become Vice President or President. The President was to say later that the award was one of his proudest accomplishments. The President was to write later: :He was the father that I grew up to believe was my father, the father I loved and learned from and respected. He was my dad... Dad was one of the truly outstanding people I ever knew in my life.

Death

The elder Ford died on January 26, 1962 in

. He and his wife are buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Grand Rapids.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Gerald Rudolff 1890 births 1962 deaths Politicians from Grand Rapids, Michigan Gerald Ford family Michigan Republicans Burials in Michigan 20th-century American politicians Businesspeople from Grand Rapids, Michigan 20th-century American businesspeople