Laura Berman writes in the Detroit News that William Clay Ford, who died Sunday, leaves the legacy of his four children, including the two who still live here — son, Bill Ford Jr., who has steered the Ford Motor Co. back to greatness in part by relinquishing daily control, and daughter Sheila Ford Hamp, who with her husband Steven Hamp are quiet philanthropic pillars of the greater Detroit community.
In the world to which he was born in 1925, William Clay Ford was a prince, a scion of Detroit royalty. He and his siblings were avidly scrutinized and chronicled as they came of age, and their family had a vivid, prominent and public role. Over time, family members discovered that came with a price.
The next generation has learned, skillfully, to avoid such scrutiny, even while continuing a tradition of philanthropy and community involvement. It’s a delicate dance, one the William Clay Ford family, in particular, has mastered with precision and grace.
What’s unusual about William Clay Ford Sr.’s offspring is not that they’ve rarely courted media attention, but that they’ve so successfully escaped it. The Fords still maintain a powerful local presence, one grounded in respect for their wealth, power, and philanthropic tradition — but their private lives are zealously guarded. That wasn’t always so.
