She sometimes joked that the family car went to the emergency room so often that it could make the trip on its own. Dance became her great passion and one which she intended early on to pursue as a profession. She wanted a home, family and children, and grew tired of the couple's itinerant lifestyle. Warren had a series of jobs in different cities, often as a traveling salesman, and Betty sometimes worked as a department store saleswoman and model in cities where they lived. As Calla Travis’s pupils stumbled self-consciously through the approved dance steps, the waltz and the fox trot, little did they dream that the young woman who demonstrated the dance steps so gracefully was to become the First Lady of the 38th President of the United States and was to be recognized by the whole world for her own accomplishments.Betty Ford has become best known, perhaps, for her courage and candor in coping with personal crisis. As Gerald built his Congressional career, winning re-election 13 times and rising to the position of House Minority Leader, Betty assumed the traditional responsibilities of a father as well as a mother to their four children.
Her mother was related to a wealthy Grand Rapids furniture manufacturing family.Betty’s mother thought social graces were important, so in 1926 eight-year-old Betty enrolled at Calla Travis Dance Studio in Grand Rapids, where she stu…
All Rights Reserved.Notices are posted by 10 am Monday through SaturdayWe apologize for the inconvenience.Have you found an error, or know of something we’ve missed in one of our stories? She also offered weekly dance classes to African American children and taught ballroom dancing to children with sight and hearing disabilities.Since the early 1960s, Betty Ford had been taking opioid analgesics for pain from a pinched nerve. Finally, after realizing that she would probably not be a premier dancer, Betty returned to Grand Rapids in 1941 to work full-time at Herpolscheimer's department store. It was never confirmed whether his death was accidental or a suicide. In 1978, the Ford family staged an intervention and forced Betty to confront her addiction to alcohol and pain pills. Images for kids.
Betty Ford was a close friend of my mother’s and was there throughout our lives. In addition, Betty Ford has been very much involved with the American Cancer Society, the Arthritis Foundation and national programs for mental health and underprivileged children, Early life. Please add a payment method by clicking the button below.We hope you enjoy reading the latest news from Manitoba's leading news source.In order to start your FREE {{ trial_length }}-day trial we require a valid payment method. Her father worked for the Royal Rubber Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan; her mother was related to a wealthy Grand Rapids furniture manufacturing family.Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives. Not only has she devoted her life over the past nine years to the helping of others with drug dependency problems, the funds she has raised through her speaking engagements and ocher public appearances have served to build the Betty Ford Center for Drug Rehabilitation at the Eisenhower Medical Center in California (dedicated October 3, 1982). After her death, her casket was flown to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where it lay in the Gerald Ford Museum over the night of July 13, 2011. Gerald and Betty Ford on their wedding day, 1948. In keeping with her sense of authenticity, Betty fully disclosed her addictions and resulting treatment to the public shortly after her release from the hospital.When Betty was 16, her father was asphyxiated by carbon monoxide poisoning while working on the family car in a closed garage. Your {{ trial_length }} day all access digital free trial starts today and includes:Since 1872, there has always been an advantage to being a Free Press reader.Share your memories and/or express your condolences below. She then entered Long Beach Naval Hospital for drug and alcohol rehabilitation. As her autobiography, The Times of My Life, points out, she enjoyed learning and those high school years were happy ones.At the time of life when many young people are still wondering which path to take, Betty Ford knew exactly what she wanted to do: her goal was to become a professional dancer. And, for this the California Medical Society and numerous other organizations have given her personal citations.As the wife of Michigan Congressman (later Minority Leader, Vice-President and President) Gerald Ford, Betty Ford’s life has been constantly mirrored in the national press. Henry Ford was an industrialist who revolutionized assembly line production for the automobile, making the Model T one of America’s greatest inventions.Betty's mother thought social graces were important, so in 1926 eight-year-old Betty enrolled at Calla Travis Dance Studio in Grand Rapids, where she studied ballet, tap and modern movement.