Romney was born to American parents living in Colonia Dublán, Galeana, Chihuahua, Mexico on July 8, 1907. The events during the Mexican Revolution forced his family to flee back to the United States when he was a child. The family lived in several states and ended up in Salt Lake City, Utah, where they struggled during the Great Depression. Romney worked in a number of jobs, served as a Mormon missionary in England and Scotland, and attended several colleges in the U.S. but did not graduate from any. In 1939 he moved to Detroit, Michigan.