Gerald Rudolff Ford
Encyclopedia
Gerald Rudolff Ford was a Grand Rapids businessman and Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 politician who was the stepfather of U.S. President Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...

 and for whom Ford legally changed his name.

Ford was born and died in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...

, where he raised the future President.

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. 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 Ayer Gardner Ford
Dorothy Ayer Gardner King Ford was the mother of U.S. President Gerald Ford.-Early life and marriage:...

 who in 1913 had fled to Michigan from Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...

 16 days after the President's birth after she said the birth father Leslie Lynch King, Sr.
Leslie Lynch King, Sr.
Leslie Lynch King, Sr. 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 the birth of their son...

 had physically abused her. Dorothy's parents Levi Addison Gardner and Adele Augusta Ayer Gardner lived in the town.

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 bore three children - Thomas Gardner Ford (July 15, 1918 - August 28, 1995); Richard Addison Ford (born June 3, 1924); and James Francis Ford (August 11, 1927 - January 23, 2001).

The President was to write later that in the household there were three rules for him and his half siblings: "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
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

. 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 Americanized version of his stepfather's name Gerald Rudolph Ford.

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
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...

 and chairman of the Kent County, Michigan
Kent County, Michigan
-Air Service:*Commercial air service to Grand Rapids is provided by Gerald R. Ford International Airport . Previously named Kent County International Airport, it holds Grand Rapids' mark in modern history with the United States' first regularly scheduled airline service, beginning July 31, 1926,...

 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
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...

. The future President would be the first Eagle Scout
Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)
Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America . A Scout who attains this rank is called an Eagle Scout or Eagle. Since its introduction in 1911, the Eagle Scout rank has been earned by more than 2 million young men...

 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.


The couple is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Grand Rapids.
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