Sixteen days after the birth, Dorothy Gardner King left Omaha with her son for Oak Park, Illinois, home of her sister Tannisse and brother-in-law Clarence Haskins James. From there, she moved to the home of her parents Levi Addison Gardner and Adele Augusta (née Ayer) in Grand Rapids, Michigan. On December 19, 1913, an Omaha court granted a divorce to the Kings. Leslie King refused to pay child support, and the court found that he had no money and no job. King's father had recently fired him for mismanaging a warehouse, overdrawing his bank account, and poor personal conduct. In 1916, Charles H. King agreed to pay the delinquent alimony and future child support until his death on the stipulation that Dorothy drop charges against Leslie.