Riley James Ford

Born on May 17th, 1931 in Jacksonville,Florida. He was the only child born to, his mother and father, Victoria Cross and Willie Dallas Ford. He lived with his parents in Jacksonville, FL until the age of 3. He then moved to Georgia to live with his grandparents after his parents divorced in 1934. He moved again at the age of 11 to Philadelphia to live with his aunt Elizabeth. At the age of 14 he moved to Detroit, Michigan to live with his father and stepmother, where he remained until graduating high school.

He graduated from Northern High school in 1948 and immediately joined the Marines February 3rd, 1949. He served four years of active duty, during which time he was deployed to Korea. After Korea he decided to continue to serve in the reserves for an additional 19 years and achieved the rank of Master Sargent. Riley was also a member of the prestigious Montford Point Marines who served from 1942 to 1949.

After returning from Korea he went to Wayne State University. He pledged Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. while at Wayne State University, and remained an active member his entire life. After graduating from Wayne State University he received a teaching certificate in Secondary Education, in 1956, and taught school in the Detroit Public School system for a number of years.

On November 8th, 1964 Riley and Joyce Riley conceived Darren Ford, his first born child.

Riley changed his career in his thirties and decided to go into investment planning. So in 1967 he received his Series 7 Broker’s License to trade stock on the NY Stock Exchange. He began working with Lincoln National Life Co. Shortly thereafter, where he remained for the rest of his career.While at Lincoln National Life he was consistently a high producing agent. He was in their millionaires club, rewarded with vacations annually for being a top producer. He worked at Lincoln for over 40 years.

In 1988 he was married to Pamela D. McNeil and from that union they produce one child, Simone Ford. In 2006 Riley and Pamela divorced.

He retired in 2005,but continued to work part-time until 2010, after deciding that he wanted to have more leisure time. In 2012 his daughter came to live with him and stayed with him until the time of his death. He died on August 13th, 2014, at Beaumont Hospital.

He is survived by a son, Darren Ford, and a daughter Simone Ford; grandchildren Aaron Albritton-Ford and Tyler Ford; and a host of cousins, friends, and business associates.