He gives back to the city — and gets others to serve as well

Edsel B. Ford II

Age: 53
Residence: Grosse Pointe
Occupation: Director, Ford Motor Co. and Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Detroit branch; owner, Pentastar Aviation
Honored: For serving Detroit as the inspirational leader of the Detroit 300 celebration, and for the many charities he supports

here's an anecdote about an Olympic athlete that Edsel B. Ford II likes to tell at banquets. The athlete, asked to give advice to a young person, says: “Choose the right parents.”

    “I couldn't agree more,” Ford will say with a hearty laugh.

    But the great-grandson of Ford Motor Co. founder Henry Ford has, at 53, come into his own as the family member who has most taken the problems and dreams of the city of Detroit to heart. Asked to chair the Detroit 300 Committee by former Mayor Dennis Archer, Ford's name and reputation got him meetings with CEOs. But once his foot was in the door, it was his passion that opened corporate wallets to the tune of more than $27 million.

    “I believed in what we were trying to accomplish,” Ford said. “And I wanted to give something back to Detroit.”

    In his corner office at Ford world headquarters in Dearborn, the company director so often described as down to earth is a gregarious man with a simmer of laughter in his voice.

    “Edsel is a great guy, very approachable,” said Glenn Hansen, senior vice-president and branch manager of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Detroit branch, where Ford serves as a director. “He brings a wealth of knowledge about the automotive business, and the pulse of what's going on, to our board.”

    Despite his business obligations, Ford invests emotion and time in Detroit's revitalization. A longtime Grosse Pointer, he's clearly smitten by some parts of Detroit he discovered only recently, such as the classic mansions and sweeping lawns of the Boston-Edison neighborhood where his great-grandfather once lived.

    And, he said, some of the money raised for Detroit 300 is earmarked to construct a lush park at Campus Martius in downtown Detroit and to greenscape 17 blocks outward from the park. A conservancy will maintain the park in perpetuity, thanks to his Detroit 300 fund-raising.

    Because Ford appointed himself chairman of the conservancy, he will, as he said laughingly, be involved with Detroit 300 in perpetuity as well.

    Ford said he hopes redevelopment spreads northward from Campus Martius up the Woodward corridor, and also south to Detroit's riverfront — which, he said, hasn't been taken advantage of fully. He brings the same passion to the numerous charities he serves, such as the Salvation Army. When he calls executives, he's often after something even more elusive than money — their time.

    “Executives need to carve out a slice of their time for service,” Ford said. “They're the people I'm after, they're the people I want to recruit for my charities.”

    Where does he get his zeal for service? His oldest sister, Charlotte, said they learned by example, from their parents.

    Edsel Ford said he has always believed that a piece of his life should be dedicated to serving others.

    “And I mean physically serve people, not just give money,” he said. “It makes me a better dad and a better person.”

— Susan Whitall