William, Henry’s last surviving grandchild, died of pneumonia in March 2014 at 88 years old. He left behind his wife, Martha; his son, William Clay Ford Jr.; his daughters, Martha Ford Morse, Sheila Ford Hamp, and Elizabeth Ford Kontulis; as well as 14 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
“I wish people knew the Mr. Ford that I knew,” former Lions general manager Matt Millen told the Associated Press at the time. “He was a very, very fascinating guy who played golf with President Eisenhower, ran with the Rat Pack, talked to President Kennedy on the phone. As a kid who grew up sitting at the foot of a grandpa who invented everything, talking to him was a history lesson and I absolutely loved it every time.”
Martha took ownership of the Lions following William’s death, and last June, Martha passed the team on to daughter Sheila.
“I’m going to do everything in my power to create a winning organization, especially on the field,” Sheila said at the time, per ESPN. “I grew up playing competitive tennis, it’s an individual sport and me out there by myself and I hated to lose. I still hate to lose. That’s my message to fans. I’ll hate to lose as much as they do. And I’ll try not to.”