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Initially I found this typed letter in a file at THF Benson Library. I've since located it in the Flint Journal archives. I thought it touching, as Mrs. Ford writes a friend about the loss of a loved one and the Christmas season:

That's poignant. I hadn't read that before, the ending moments of a very intelligent and interesting man. Actually, a tough read.
Thank you Rob. Not being silly, where is the sweet yet somber emoticon.
Merry Christmas to you and yours.

Henry Ford was born in a house with no electricity, no running water, no heat or gas.

When he died, he was in a house with no electricity, no heat, no lights and no gas.

The Rouge River was flooding at that time, and had knocked out the Ford dynamos and flooded the water and heat systems. If you tour the house, they have the height the water actually reached delineated on the inner walls of the power house at his estate.

Hearse Discussed Here:

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FJ

OilyBill wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 24, 2022 12:45 am

Henry Ford was born in a house with no electricity, no running water, no heat or gas.

When he died, he was in a house with no electricity, no heat, no lights and no gas.

The Rouge River was flooding at that time, and had knocked out the Ford dynamos and flooded the water and heat systems. If you tour the house, they have the height the water actually reached delineated on the inner walls of the power house at his estate.

I have read this remembrance before, and many other facts and stories of those several days. Thank you Rob for sharing this here again. It is a solemn reminder of the passing of a very special man in the halls of humankind.

Since the time of the ancient Greeks, and probably before, it has been said that the gods have a great sense of irony. That this man, one of the most brilliant and wealthy (relative to the economies of his era) to ever live, should suffer the mental deterioration, and accompanying anger and bitterness, of his final two decades of life? And then to die in a small corner of a grand mansion, otherwise in much the same state as he was born into?
The gods have an interesting sense of humor.

What I found interesting is that Clara remarks on how they went to bed that night, planning to read by candlelight.

Thanks for posting this Rob. I too never saw nor heard of this letter. Very sad really. As I recall reading somewhere, not long before retiring for the night Henry trekked down to the power house, probably figuring he could "do something" to restore it? Or just check on it as so many of us guys just have to do! Speculation is that trip in the cold rain is what did him in. His lungs may have been quite fragile already, maybe even had some pnuemonia without realizing it. That's possible. I did until I was like him and went to the doc. What a shock! Cause I otherwise felt great. Then bedridden for close to 8 weeks with it! No fun believe me.

Sad to read, but in the end, he died in his own bed,in the arms of his loving wife, after a full life, and not breathing his last breath through a ventilator-alone in a cold strange hospital.

Good points all. I thought it poignant, yet somehow reassuring. The wealthiest man the world had ever known, living, and dying, at home, with his wife at his side. No scandal, no mystery, simply a fitting end to a long, accomplishment filled life.