Gordy family was also a professional in bowling. His daughter Iris was married to singer Johnny Bristol. The eldest Gordy daughter, Esther (April 25, 1920 – August 24, 2011), born in Georgia, established herself early in business as a political campaigner for her husband, Detroit politician George Edwards. In the late 1950s, she formed a loan company named after her parents; in 1959, she helped her brother Berry with a $800 loan to start Tamla Records. She borrowed the proceeds from the college tuition fund their father had established for Berry. Edwards served as mentor, adviser, and vice president of Motown's main
Claudette Rogers Robinson fellow Miracles group mates Bobby (Rogers), Ronnie (White) and Pete (Moore), and Tamla Claudette Robinson was named after Motown's original record label, Tamla Records. Smokey Robinson and Claudette were divorced in 1986, after 27 years of marriage. Motown founder Berry Gordy gave Claudette the official title of the "First Lady of Motown", as noted in his autobiography, because, as a member of the Miracles, Motown's first group and first recording act, she was the first female artist ever signed to a Motown-affiliated record label (Tamla). Several years ago, Claudette began writing her autobiography, "A Miraculous Life", a book of her