George Wilcken Romney (1907-1995)



George Wilcken Romney (1907-1995) Governor of Michigan and 3rd Secretary for US Department of Housing and Urban Development. Father of US Presidential Candidate, Mitt Romney.

Vital Statistics

 * Son of Gaskell Romney (1871-1955) and Anna Amelia Pratt (1876-1926)'
 * 1907-July-08 : Birth in Colonia Dublan, Chihuahua, Mexico
 * 1912-July : Mexican Revolution, family flees Mexico, moves to US
 * 1926-1928 : Mormon Missionary service in England-Scotland area
 * 1931-July-02 : Marriage to Lenore Emily LaFount (1908-1998), his high school sweetheart, at Salt Lake City, Utah USA
 * 1954-1962 : CEO of AMC Motor Corporation - Automobile Industrialist
 * 1954 (EST) : President of the Detroit Michigan Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
 * 1963-1969 : 43rd Governor of the State of Michigan
 * 1968 : Candidate for Republican Nomination for US President
 * 1969-1973 : 3rd Secretary of US Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
 * 1972 : Wife Lenore is candidate for Michigan's US Senate Seat
 * 1995-July-26 : Dired at Bloomington Hills, Oakland Co, Michigan USA - buried with his wife in Fairview Cemetery.

Biography
An excellent biography for George is already presented on | Wikipedia. This article will focus on Family History.

Romney's parents were American citizens Gaskell Romney (1871–1955) and Anna Amelia Pratt (1876-1926); natives of Utah, they married in 1895 in Mexico and lived in Colonia Dublán, Galeana, in the Mexican state of Chihuahua (one of the Mormon colonies in Mexico) where George was born on July 8, 1907. They practiced monogamy. George had three older brothers, two younger brothers, and a younger sister. Gaskell Romney was a successful carpenter, house builder, and farmer who headed the most prosperous family in the colony.

When he died, he was survived by his wife, his children, 23 grand children and 33 great-grandchildren.

Children of George Romney and Lenore LaFount

 * Lynn Romney Keenan (living)
 * Jane Romney (living)
 * G Scott Romney (b 1941) - an American Republican politician and lawyer in the state of Michigan. He formerly sat on the Michigan State University Board of Trustees. Romney lost his bid for the nomination to become Michigan Attorney General in 1998.
 * W Mitt Romney (b 1947) - an American Republican politician, US Presidential Candidate, former governor of Michigan, chairman of the 2004 Winter Olympics Committee

Reference Links

 * Romney Family Ancestry - Connections to Romney-Pratt-Kimball-Eyring-Huntsman and more.
 * | Biography of G.W. Romney - Wikipedia
 * George W. Romney Institute of Public Management
 * Boston Globe Magazine, Lessons of the Father