Friday, January 5, 2007

Remembering ?a lovely man?

Former President Gerald R. Ford had several ties to valley


By JASON KAUFFMAN
Express Staff Writer

In this December 1966 photo of the Ford family on Dollar Mountain at Sun Valley Resort, from left to right, Michael, John, Betty, Steven, Susan and Gerald Ford take a break from skiing. At the time of the photo, Gerald had just been elected to his 10th term as a U.S. congressman from the state of Michigan. Photo courtesy of Sun Valley Resort archives

Part 1 of a two-part series on former President Gerald R. Ford's links to the Wood River Valley.

Talk with enough longtime residents of the Sun Valley and Ketchum areas and you'll stand a good chance of finding someone who either knew former U.S. President Gerald R. Ford or knows or has heard of a local person who did.

And like so many other people across the country, these individuals—many of whom were living in the Sun Valley area when the Fords vacationed here between the 1960s and early 1980s—remember the United States' 38th president with a kind of fondness rare in politics today.

They remember his humor and ability to laugh at his own well-known foibles. Perhaps even more importantly, they remember his honesty, dedication and candor at a time when his country needed him most.

Last week, on Dec. 26, 2006, Ford passed away at his Rancho Mirage, Calif., home at the age of 93.

In the days since his death, Ford's casket has traveled cross-country from California to Washington, D.C., and, finally, to his hometown of Grand Rapids, Mich., the town he represented during his lengthy, 13-term tenure as a U.S. Congressman.

Just before nightfall on Wednesday, Jan. 3, Ford was laid to rest on a scenic knoll overlooking the Grand River, next to his presidential museum in Grand Rapids. Ford's burial marked more than a week of celebration, remembrances and mourning of the man who was elevated to the office of U.S. president in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal.

As is the case nationwide, questions about Ford lead to predictably complimentary answers from those who live in the Sun Valley and Ketchum areas.

"He was a lovely man," Sun Valley resident Anne Ford said Wednesday. Ford is not related to the former U.S. president.

While the Fords did spend time in the Sun Valley area between the 1960s and 1980s, Anne never knew them here. Rather, she got to know them in the 1980s when she was living in Beaver Creek, Colo., near Vail. A friend of Anne's owned a home next door to the Ford's place in Beaver Creek, which is where she initially met them, she said.

Anne also spent time with the Fords in Rancho Mirage, where the Fords made their home for many years.

After their first meeting, Anne and the Fords grew to know each other well and developed a friendship with one another. The Fords were wonderful people, Anne said.

"I feel honored to have known this man and his wife," she said.

A truly down-to-earth person, Ford didn't wish to be known by people as former U.S. President Gerald R. Ford, Anne said. For those who knew him, Ford was on a simple, first-name basis, she said.

"People called him Gerry," Anne said. "He wanted them to treat him like everybody else."

Anne grew up in Michigan like Ford, but never knew him there. She also went to the same university as the former president.

"I went to the University of Michigan long after he did," Anne said.

One particularly memorable moment she recalls being with Ford was when she played a competitive round of golf at Rancho Mirage with him and several friends.

She and Ford were playing together, Anne said, and won the friendly competition.

"I was so nervous in the beginning," she said. "But he made me so comfortable."

The round of golf was a big deal for her, Anne noted.

"He was just so nice," she said.

Ford never had a problem seeing the humor in his own gaffes, some of which became fodder for comedians and nighttime news shows, Anne said.

"He would just take it in stride and laugh at himself," she said.

Anne is as equally complimentary of the former president's wife, 88-year-old Betty Ford.

Betty, whose public admission about her battle against breast cancer helped remove the stigma that had been previously attached to the disease, provided much-needed support for Anne when she herself faced the same battle in 1986 at the age of 49.

"I talked to her about this and she gave me courage," she said.

Of the two of them—Gerald and Betty—Anne got to know Betty better, she said. The two of them would often get together during those years and talk about any number of topics, Anne said.

"She and I would go to lunch in Vail," she said.

A strong and outspoken woman, Betty has been a valuable role model for all women, Anne said.

"She's a wonderful woman," she said. "I think she broke the barrier (for women with breast cancer)."

Anne speaks with equal admiration for the relationship that Gerald and Betty had with one another.

"They were darling with each other," she said. "It was a wonderful love affair."

Having watched television news reports about Ford's passing throughout the past week, Anne spoke with emotion about the pain she can see written on Betty's face.

"She lost her greatest friend and partner in the world," she said.

Still, Anne expresses little doubt that Betty will persevere with the help of her friends and family.

"She's strong," Anne said.

Although she never knew Ford personally, longtime Ketchum resident Linda Clemens can remember at least one of his visits to the area quite vividly.

Once the social director for the Elkhorn Hotel, Clemens recalls Ford's 1977 visit to Sun Valley to play in what was then the second annual Danny Thompson Memorial Golf Tournament.

"I helped with that tournament," she said.

Clemens said she and two other local women made a joke of Ford's notoriety for sending errant golf balls into the spectator gallery. As Ford passed by them playing golf, Clemens and the other two women, one of which was Ketchum resident Gail Severn, went into action.

"We all had pots and pans on our heads," Clemens said with a laugh.

An indication of just how laid-back he was, Clemens said she doesn't remember many, if any, Secret Service people following Ford.

"It was unbelievable," she said. "It was so casual back then."

Ford also maintained ties to the Ketchum and Sun Valley area through local architect William Hayes. Hayes, of William Hayes Architects of Ketchum, designed the Ford family's mountain home in Beaver Creek.

(In Part 2 next week: A look at Gerald R. Ford through the eyes of architect William Hayes.)




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