The last surviving grandson of Ford Motor Company founder Henry Ford is gone. William Clay Ford Sr. died Sunday at the age of 88.
Ford was born on March 14, 1925 in Kansas City. During World War II he joined the U.S. Navy. Later, Ford attended Yale University and was elected to Ford Motor Companys board of directors in 1948, a year before he graduated. He married Martha Parke Firestone, the granddaughter of Harvey Firestone and together they had four children.
Among his achievements as a longtime executive with the Ford Motor company, Ford Sr. updated the Continental that his father had created, introducing the Continental Mark II in 1955. It is said there were only two pictures on his office wall
his fathers Continental, and his updated Mark II.
During Ford Motors centennial celebrations in 2003, Ford Sr. spoke of learning to drive in a Model A with his grandfather and taking his first airplane ride with Charles Lindbergh. He sat on the Ford Motor Company board of directors for 57 years but cars were not his only passion. On November 22, 1963, Ford purchased a controlling interest in the Detroit Lions. He owned the team until his death.
Ford served as the executive chairman of Ford Motor Company.
