Sports / Auto industry / Business & brands
William Clay Ford Sr.
1925–2014 · owner of the Detroit Lions, Ford Motor Company executive
Henry Ford's youngest grandson owned the Detroit Lions for fifty years and brought them back downtown to Ford Field in 2002.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan
aged 88- Birth name
- William Clay Ford
- Also known as
- William Clay Ford
- Detroit years
- 1925–2014
- Field
- Sports, Auto industry, Business & brands
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
The youngest child of Edsel and Eleanor Ford, William Clay Ford was born in Detroit and grew up at the family's Gaukler Point estate. After Hotchkiss and Yale, where he starred in tennis and soccer, he joined Ford Motor Company and led its short-lived Continental Division, which produced the elegant 1956 Continental Mark II, a tribute to his father's Lincoln Continental. He served on Ford's board for decades. A minority owner of the Detroit Lions from 1956 and team president from 1961, he bought control of the team in a deal that closed in January 1964. Under him the Lions moved from Tiger Stadium to the Pontiac Silverdome in 1975 and returned to downtown Detroit in 2002 in the new Ford Field. The team won only one playoff game in his half-century as owner. He died at home in Grosse Pointe Shores in 2014 and is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery near his parents.
Highlights
- Owner of the Detroit Lions, 1964–2014
- Led design of the 1956 Continental Mark II
- Moved the Lions to the Pontiac Silverdome (1975) and Ford Field (2002)
- Longtime Ford Motor Company director and vice chairman
- Last surviving grandchild of Henry Ford
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 4
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Founded · 2002–2014
Ford Field
The downtown stadium built under his ownership, incorporating a 1920s Hudson's warehouse; home of the Lions since 2002.
Related place · 1975–2001
Pontiac Silverdome
Demolished · 1975–2013
The Lions' suburban dome for 27 seasons under his ownership; demolished in 2017–2018.
Related place · 1964–1974
Tiger Stadium (site now The Corner Ballpark)
Demolished · 1912–1999
The Lions played at the Corner until 1974; the stadium was demolished in 2008–2009.
Buried here · 2014
Woodlawn Cemetery
He is buried here near his parents, Edsel and Eleanor, and his brother Benson.