Saying Good-Bye: Dignitaries, Family Pay Respects to Betty Ford
Former first lady Betty Ford was remembered by national dignitaries and friends today as a champion of those suffering from addiction and as a living symbol of the power of friendship to overcome bipartisan politics.
The outspoken former first lady died Friday at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage with her family at her side. She was 93.
At a memorial service at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Palm Desert – – where she and her late husband, President Gerald R. Ford, worshiped since moving to the area in 1977 — Ford was remembered for speaking her mind and sharing her own medical and addiction troubles with the public.
“Betty broke new ground in speaking out on women’s issues,” former first lady Rosalynn Carter, a friend of Ford’s for more than 40 years, said. “Her public disclosure of her own battle with breast cancer lifted the veil of secrecy from this terrible disease. She used the influence of the office of first lady to promote early detection, and millions of women are in her debt today. and she was never afraid to speak the truth, even about the most sensitive subjects, including her own struggles with alcohol and pain killers. She got some criticisms. I thought she was wonderful. And her honesty gave hope to others every single day.”
Carter, who met Ford before her Democratic husband had decided to run against Gerald Ford for president, said the most appropriate description of Ford was “someone who was willing to do things a bit differently than they had been done before. Someone who had the courage and grace to fight fear, stigma and prejudice wherever she encountered it.”
“And today it’s almost impossible to imagine a time when people were afraid to reveal they had cancer, or speak publicly about personal struggles with alcohol addiction,” she said. “She was a tireless advocate for those struggling, some struggling alone, ashamed to seek help.”
Former President George W. Bush was among the mourners at the service, along with first lady Michelle Obama and former first ladies Carter, Nancy Reagan and Hillary Clinton.
National Public Radio news analyst Cokie Roberts, whose mother — former Democratic Rep. Lindy Boggs of Louisiana — was a 60-year friend of Ford, said the former first lady assigned her to speak at the funeral service and asked her to convey the need for civility in Washington.
“It will come as a surprise to none of you that the assignment came with instructions,” she joked.
“Mrs. Ford wanted me to remind everyone of the way things used to be in Washington, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if she timed her death to make sure she could convey the message of comity during this week, when it seemed so badly needed,” she said.
Roberts talked about how Ford and other congressional wives would forge friendships that ignored political parties, and those bonds would often carry over to their husbands.
“One talent that political wives were expected to cultivate that they didn’t share with most women was that of first-rate campaigner,” she said. “… It was another activity, that constant campaigning, that brought political wives together. Even if they were on different sides, they had the same complaints. And that meant they forged tightly joined connections that extended to the men as well. They would bring them in together, serve them some drinks and a good meal, listen to their stories and make them behave.
“And some of that good behavior carried over to the corridors of Congress. It was a role political wives had actually played since the beginning of this republic, and it has worked. Now, former members, former presidents and former members all get together nicely, and it’s very nice, it’s very nice to see you getting together after the fact, but we wish some of you would get together beforehand.”
Ford’s body will be flown Wednesday to Grand Rapids, Mich., where she will be buried next to her husband at the Ford Presidential Museum. He died in 2006, also at the age of 93.
Ford’s four children — Michael Gerald, 61; John Gardner, 59; Steven Meigs, 55; and Susan Ford Bales, 54 — issued a statement after their mother’s death, saying that “to be in her presence was to know the warmth of a truly great lady. Mother’s passing leaves a deep void, but it also fills us with immeasurable appreciation for the life we and Dad shared with her.”
Betty Ford, a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal, served as chair of the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage until she was 88.
Born in Chicago on April 8, 1918, Elizabeth Ann (Betty) Bloomer was raised in Grand Rapids. She attended the Bennington School of Dance in Vermont for two summers after graduating from high school in 1936 and eventually became a member of choreographer Martha Graham’s Auxiliary Performance Troupe, performing at Carnegie Hall.
After moving back to Michigan, she formed her own dance group and worked with disabled children, helping them experience the rhythm of dance — beginning a lifetime of philanthropic work.
She married a salesman named William Warren in 1942, but they divorced a few years later.
In 1947, she was introduced by a friend to Gerald R. Ford, and they were engaged by February of the next year. The couple married in October 1948, and Ford was elected to Congress two weeks later. He went on to serve in the House of Representatives for 25 years.
In 1973, the Fords were planning to retire, but Gerald Ford was chosen by President Richard Nixon to replace the resigned Spiro Agnew as vice president. When Nixon resigned in 1974 amid the Watergate scandal, Ford became the nation’s 38th president.
Not long after Ford took office, Betty Ford was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her public battle with the disease and openness in discussing her condition was credited with raising public awareness of treatment options.
She continued during her husband’s administration to be outspoken on women’s rights, abortion rights and other hot-button topics — earning her some criticism from conservative Republicans.
After Jimmy Carter defeated Gerald Ford in the 1976 presidential election, the couple moved to Rancho Mirage. Betty Ford began coping with her prescription drug and alcohol abuse when she was confronted by relatives urging her to seek help. She checked into Long Beach Naval Hospital for treatment — a process she detailed in her 1978 autobiography, “The Times of My Life.”
Betty Ford went on to become one of the most famous spokeswomen for alcohol and drug treatment, co-founding the Betty Ford Center at Eisenhower Medical Center in 1982.
“Thank you, God, for bringing us this extraordinary lady, this brave and inspirational pioneer into our lives, all of our lives,” said former Betty Ford Center director Geoffrey Mason. “Even those who haven’t experienced the gift of treatment or recovery, all of us are supremely better for having known you, Betty. For having been inspired by you, and for having shared love with you.
“May God now grant you the peace and reward that you helped so many of us learn about and experience,” he said. “Yes, God’s grace upon you, dear Betty. The world is so much a better place for your having been here with us. You will never know how much we miss you.”
In lieu of flowers, the family asked that contributions be made to:
— the Betty Ford First Ladies Tribute Fund, c/o the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation, 303 Pearl St. NW, Grand Rapids, Mich., 49504;
— Betty Ford Diagnostic Breast Center, Lemmen-Holton Cancer Pavilion, 145 Michigan St. NE, Suite 4200, Grand Rapids, Mich., 49503;
— Betty Ford Alpine Gardens, 183 Gore Creek Drive, Vail, Colo., 81657; or
— The Betty Ford Legacy Scholarship Fund, c/o Betty Ford Center Foundation, 41990 Cook St., Suite C-101, Palm Desert, Calif., 92211.
