DIES @ 93
ELIZABETH ANN BLOOMER WARREN FORD (APRIL 8, 1918-JULY 8, 2011)
She was born in Chicago, Illinois to William Stephenson Bloomer, a traveling salesman for Royal Rubber Co., and Hortense Neahr. Betty, as she was known by family and friends, is the youngest of three children with 2 older brothers Robert and William Jr.
William Bloomer Sr. died when Ford was 16 from carbon monoxide poisoning while working in his open garage. By 1936 Betty had graduated from high school and soon had her sights set on continuing her dance studies in New York. Her mother refused to allow her daughter to go to New York. She enrolled at Bennington school of dance in Bennington, Vermont and studied with Martha Graham and Hanya Holm. Fashion modeling was her financial backing to keep her studies in dance viable. Ford was quickly performing in Martha Graham's auxiliary troupe which would lead her to performing at Carnegie Hall.
Hortense worried about her daughter Betty living and working in New York as well as her career choice. Betty agreed to come home for a short period of time and began to plunge herself into the Grand Rapids, Michigan lifestyle. Modeling was not in the cards in Grand Rapids but Betty was able to finds a job as an assistant fashion coordinator in a local department store.
1942 brought change in Betty's life when she married William C. Warren who worked for her father and had a long standing relationship with her family. They relocated many times due to his work and Betty quickly found work no matter what town they made home. Warren was a prolific alcoholic whose health was deteriorating, but Betty still filed for divorce. When he went into a coma, she returned to take care of him for several years as he recovered. Their divorce was finalized on September 22. 1947. They had no children.
Betty met Gerald Ford Jr., a lawyer, and became engaged during his campaign for U.S. House of Representatives. The wedding however, was delayed until the completion of the campaign as his staff was unsure how the voters would respond. Her past as an ex-dancer in conjunction with her divorce may have not played a positive role.
The couple have four children: Michael Gerald, John Gardner, Steven Meigs and Susan Elizabeth, who have each forged different paths in life. They range from minister, magazine founder, actor and photographer. They are each very successful in their perspective fields, and each have families of their own except for Steven who has never married. Steven had a lawsuit filed against him in 1980 claiming he was the father of a boy named Lawrence born in 1979. A settlement was finalized but the details have been kept confidential.
Betty Ford became First Lady on December 6, 1973 and openly disclosed her mastectomy on September 28, 1974. The subject of breast cancer was limited but with Betty being the wife of a President in office it brought the subject to the forefront of the American people.
The Ford family came together on an intervention with mom and wife Betty as her alcohol and pills usage had escalated. She admitted in her 1987 memoir that alcohol made her feel warm and she had a loved the relief of tension and pain the pills provided.
Failing health forced Ford to reduce her public appearances with operations to relieve blood clots in her legs keeping her at home. Her public life had already been cut back extensively upon the death of her husband. The national mourning of Gerald Ford showed a fragile Betty but she persevered through the four-day event.
The associated press confirmed the death of Betty Ford and family spokeswoman Barbara Lewandowski said the first lady died at the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage with her family at her bedside.
RUSTY
7/8/11