Doris Ford, the 83-year-old wife of Edward Ford, died 11:47 a.m., Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in their Jackson Park Highlands home in the arms of her husband on their 65th wedding anniversary.
Ford was born on a farm in Opelika, Alabama, to a family of eight children. Her parents migrated to Chicago when she was 9 years old.
Mrs. Ford graduated from Parker High School, and they eventually met at the Grand Ballroom at 6351 S. Cottage Grove Avenue at a dance. “It was love at first sight,” said Mr. Ford. “She was the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. We were married April 17, 1959.”
Mrs. Ford helped her husband run the only African American-owned jeweler shop on Chicago’s Jewelers Row District on Wabash Avenue for 50 years–The Edward Ford Jeweler, 5 South Wabash Avenue. “She was my right hand,” he said in a very soft voice.
Her daughter, Alanna Ford, said, “My mother was not only beautiful, but she could do anything, sew, paint the whole house. She was a socialite. My mother was a very gracious woman, a great mom who never complained about anything even when she was sick.”
Mrs. Ford will lay-in-state Thursday, May 2, 2024, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Unity Funeral Parlor, 4114 S. Michigan Avenue.
Visitation for Mrs. Ford will be held Friday, May 3, 2024, followed by an 11:00 a.m. Mass at St. Philip Neri Catholic Church, (St. Josephine Bakhita), 2132 S. 72nd St. The burial will be private.
