Genealogists know that putting together a family tree can be both interesting and fun. This is true whether it is your family tree, or the tree of someone else. Since there will be a United States Presidential election in 2012, I decided to put together a brief family tree for each candidate. Today, I am focusing on Mitt Romney.
Mitt Romney was the Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007. Before that, he was an executive at Bain & Co., from 1978 to 1984. In 1984, Mitt Romney was one of the founders of Bain Capital, which is a private equity investment firm. Mitt Romney is among the candidates who hope to win the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.
Mitt Romney’s mother, Lenore LeFount, was born in Logan, Utah in 1908. She was an aspiring actress before she met George Wilcken Romney, (Mitt’s Father). He was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, in 1907.
George Wilcken Romney’s father was Gaskell Romney (Mitt’s paternal grandfather). Gaskell was born in 1871 in St. George, Utah. George’s mother was Anna Amelia Pratt (Mitt’s paternal grandmother). Anna was born in 1876 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The two were married in the United States, and later moved to Mexico into a colony where Mormons were practicing polygamy.
Mitt’s father, George Wilcken Romney, eventually became the third United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, under President Nixon. Previous to that, he was the forty-third Governor of Michigan. George Wilcken Romney and Lenore LeFount (Romney) were married in 1931.
Mitt’s parents had four children. Margo Lynn Romney was born in 1935. Jane LaFount Romney was born in 1938. Her middle name came from her mother’s “maiden name”. George Scott Romney was born in 1941. He was named after his father, but, since his name often appears as “G. Scott Romney”, it seems he goes by Scott, instead of George.
Willard Mitt Romney was born in 1947, making him the youngest child in the family. He was born in Detroit, Michigan. Mitt was named after J. Willard Marriot, who was a good friend of Mitt’s father. Marriot, of course, went on to establish the Marriot chain of hotels. Mitt is also named after Milton “Mitt” Romney, who was a quarterback for the Chicago Bears. The quarterback was a cousin of Mitt’s father.
In 1969, Mitt married Ann Lois Davies. He was twenty-two years old, and she was twenty years old. The couple has five children. Taggart was born in 1970. Matthew was born in 1971. Joshua was born in 1975. Benjamin was born in 1978. Craig was born in 1981. In 1980, Anne was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
Image by Gage Skidmore on Flickr