Death and state funeral of Gerald Ford grandchildren came to the museum that night and greeted mourners for several hours. Shortly after noon on January 3, Ford's body was removed from the museum and taken by motorcade to Grace Episcopal Church in East Grand Rapids, where a private funeral service was conducted Thousands of people lined the entire motorcade route to the church. During the service, eulogies were delivered by Donald Rumsfeld (President Ford's White House Chief of Staff and Secretary of Defense), former President Jimmy Carter, Richard Norton Smith (former Director of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum and a close personal friend of
Gerald Rudolff Ford wiped out his fortune. After Leslie's father died, Dorothy sought an order to get money from the $50,000 Leslie had inherited. However, since Leslie had moved to Wyoming he was out of the jurisdiction of the Nebraska court. The elder Ford never legally adopted the President. The President changed his name in 1935 after the deaths of his paternal King family grandparents to an Anglicized version of his stepfather's name Gerald Rudolph Ford. The elder Ford was active on various functions including the formation of the Youth Commonwealth to help disadvantaged youth. He was director of the Grand Rapids Chamber