Biography:Edward Roderick Davies
Edward Roderick Davies | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Mayor of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan | |
| In office – c. 1960s | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 2, 1915 Caerau, Bridgend, Wales, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |
| Died | September 8, 1992 (aged 77) Stuart, Martin County, Florida, United States |
| Spouse(s) | Lois (Pottinger) Davies |
| Children | Daughter: Ann (Davies) Romney Sons: Jim Davies, Rod Davies[1] |
| Residence | Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, United States Later, Stuart, Martin County, Florida, United States |
| Alma mater | General Motors Institute of Technology |
| Positions | Co-founder, Jered Industries, 1946 |
Edward Roderick Davies (June 2, 1915 – September 8, 1992) was a self-made industrialist.
Life and career
Davies was born on June 2, 1915 in Caerau, Bridgend, Wales, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, into a Welsh coal mining family. In 1929 he emigrated to the United States with his father David Davies who had black lung disease and had been injured in a mining accident. David worked at a Ford plant and paid for his wife, Annie Davies, and son, Edward, to come thereafter. In 1938, Edward graduated from General Motors Institute of Technology in 1938 with a degree in engineering and, after serving a stint in the U.S. Naval Engineering corps, in 1946 he co-founded a maker of heavy equipment for marine use, Jered Industries. Some sources have suggested that Jered helped to engineer the landing craft used for the D-Day invasion of Normandy, though this is unlikely as Jered was not founded until well after D-Day.[2][2][3] Davies—who had also worked with the NASA's Gemini space program[4] and served as the mayor of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan—was the father of Ann Romney, wife of former Massachusetts governor and 2012 presidential nominee Mitt Romney.[5]
He died on September 8, 1992. Due to a successful business career and wise investments, Davies had amassed an estate worth millions of dollars. At the time of his death, Davies owned large properties and a 65 foot yacht.[6]
Jered
Jered was sold to the British engineering firm Vickers in 1980, at Davies' retirement. (The division became an independent entity again in 1997 and was acquired in 2005 by PaR Systems.[7])
Religious views
Davies rejected religion and was an avowed atheist. He was known to call organized religion "hogwash" and "drudgery".[8] Before Davies married Lois, he insisted she give up organized religion and later his son Roderick Davies said, "Dad considered people who were religious to be weak in the knees."[9] By the time of his death, he was the only member of Ann Romney's immediate family to have not converted to Latter-day Saint Mormonism.[10] In spite of his atheism and anti-religious views, on the 19th of November, 1993 in a special family meeting, just fourteen months after he died, he was baptized and had his endowment performed for him.[10][11] On the 10th of June, 1994 Davies, in another LDS Mormon temple ceremony, was sealed for eternity to his wife Lois in the Atlanta, Georgia temple.[11]
Patents
Davies' U.S. patents include:[citation needed]
- an automated window washing for high-rises
- yacht fin stabilizers
- a high performance golf cart
- a scuba spear gun
- a lawn sprinkler
References
- ↑ Swidey, Neil; Paulson, Michael (June 24, 2007), The Making of Mitt Romney, Boston Globe, Part 1: Privilege, tragedy, and a young leader, http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/06/24/privilege_tragedy_and_a_young_leader/
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Sanchez, Raf (January 6, 2012). "US election 2012: Ann Romney's Welsh connection". London: Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/us-election/8998895/US-election-2012-Ann-Romneys-Welsh-connection.html. Retrieved 2012-06-22.
- ↑ "Jered LLC | Marine Equipment, Cargo Handling | PaR Systems". Par.com. http://www.par.com/company-info/jered.php. Retrieved 2012-06-21.
- ↑ Williamson, David (2012-06-07). "Could Welsh miner's granddaughter Ann Romney be next US First Lady? - Need to Read - News". WalesOnline. http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/need-to-read/2012/05/30/could-welsh-miner-s-granddaughter-ann-romney-be-next-us-first-lady-91466-31076721/. Retrieved 2012-06-22.
- ↑ "Ann Romney's Welsh ancestry explored". BBC News. January 5, 2012. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/uk-wales-16432627. Retrieved 2012-06-22.
- ↑ Scott, Ronald (2011-11-22) (in en). Mitt Romney: An Inside Look at the Man and His Politics. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9780762777150. https://books.google.com/books/about/Mitt_Romney.html?id=61lBBAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button#v=snippet&q=jim%20&f=false.
- ↑ "Jered LLC | Marine Equipment, Cargo Handling | PaR Systems". Par.com. http://www.par.com/company-info/jered.php. Retrieved 2012-06-22.
- ↑ Keneally, Meghan (28 January 2012). "Mitt Romney's family baptized Ann Romney's atheist father into Mormon church a year AFTER his death". Daily Mail. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2093241/Mitt-Romneys-family-baptized-Ann-Romneys-atheist-father-Mormon-church-year-AFTER-death.html.
- ↑ Swidey, Neil; Paulson, Michael (24 June 2007). "Privilege, tragedy, and a young leader". The Boston Globe. http://archive.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/06/24/privilege_tragedy_and_a_young_leader/?page=full.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Teicher, Jordan (27 January 2012). "CONFIRMED: Romney Family Had Ann Romney's Atheist Father Posthumously Baptized Into The Mormon Church". Business Insider. http://www.businessinsider.com/confirmed-romney-family-had-ann-romneys-atheist-father-posthumously-baptized-into-the-mormon-church-2012-1?IR=T.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Cook, John (27 January 2012). "Yes, the Romneys Converted Mitt's Dead Atheist Father-in-Law to Mormonism". Gawker. Archived from the original on 1 January 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140101084124/http://gawker.com/5879888/yes-the-romneys-converted-mitts-dead-atheist-father+in+law-to-mormonism.
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