Early life and the first light
I begin with a date and a place because lives often arrive as tidy facts before they unfurl. Born on September 3, 1952, he entered a world of microphones and studio lights in San Gabriel, California. The photograph of a child on a lap, small hands on a guitar, is literal and also a metaphor. From that vantage he watched a famous parent take the stage and learned, almost by osmosis, about rhythm and restraint. He was not headline material in the way his father was. He was instead a steady instrument in a family orchestra, a harmonic that sometimes held a bridge together.
Family portrait
- Tennessee Ernie Ford
The father was a household name. A voice of record sales and television audiences. He cast a long shadow and also an obvious cradle for the younger generation. - Betty Heminger
The mother kept the structure of home. She managed the private ledger of a public life. - Jeffrey Buckner Ford
The elder brother who later wrote about family history and helped shape the narrative that the family told about itself. - Clarence Thomas Ford
A generational presence that appeared silently in family trees and in the gravity of inherited traditions. - Maud Long
One of the quieter names on a long list of ancestors. She is a human anchor for the family story. - J. Walter Long
An earlier rung on the ladder of lineage. A reminder that any life is braided from many others. - Nancy Adeline Ladd
The other side of that braid. Names like hers appear on paper and hang in the air like music without a melody.
These names are not trophies. They are coordinates. They map a life that sits between public acclaim and private hours.
Career and the voice he carried
He sought family entertainment. Some singers don’t want solo careers. Some perform for tiny rooms, religious occasions, local audiences, or for the quiet pleasure of music. As an entertainer and vocalist, he sang via childhood memories, community stages, and family gatherings with a family timbre.
This is his job outline. He was photographed with his family in the 1950s and 1960s. He focused on performing in meaningful situations as an adult rather than seeking popularity. Numbers do not list his hits or chart places. Instead, measures differ. They are crowded evenings, boosted congregations, and late rehearsals that made something singable the next day.
He witnessed music changes from vinyl to CD, variety television to digital archiving clips. He saw a father who sold millions of records but never forgot the little things in life. He saw success as a craft, not a sign. I call it carpentry. He mastered sound, sometimes making it beautiful.
The years and the end
He was a man of particular dates. September 3, 1952 is the beginning. October 24, 2008 is the end. He died in White House, Tennessee on that October day, at age 56, taken by lung cancer. Those numbers frame a life that was captured in family notices and in the memories of people who loved him. I find it vivid that a life is both long and mercifully small when measured in ordinary acts. Fifty six years include thousands of meals, hundreds of performances, dozens of moves, and one final goodbye.
Timeline
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1952 | Birth on September 3 |
| 1950s to 1960s | Childhood and early appearances with family |
| 2008 | Death on October 24 at age 56 |
Tables are blunt tools and yet they help. They give structure when memory wants to run like a river.
Memory and legacy
I say the headline doesn’t last. The voice at the song’s edge refuses to be loud. The presence at family reunions keeps the story going. He lives in records, images, and siblings’ and cousins’ memories. He dwells in calm family tree pages with names like grandfather generation as roots.
I never met him. My experience is with dates, photos, obituaries, and a famous relative’s radiance. But I can envision how minor deeds define a person privately. Warm coffee backstage. Guitar tuning 30 minutes before church. The tension-breaker joke. Those facts cement dates and names.
FAQ
Who was he exactly
He was the younger son of a well known singer. He worked as an entertainer and singer himself. He lived a life that moved between family obligation and private devotion to music. He was born on September 3, 1952 and died on October 24, 2008.
What about his immediate family
His immediate family included a father who was famous and a mother who kept the household steady. He had an older brother who wrote about family history. Grandparents and great grandparents appear in the family record and give the family depth in time.
Did he make records or become famous on his own
Not in the commercial sense. There are not public charts that list his solo hits. His achievements are of another order. They are the performances he gave, the songs he sang at gatherings, and the private artistry he practiced.
How long did he live
He lived 56 years. From 1952 to 2008. Those are numbers and they are also a life.
Where did he spend his final years
He died in October 2008 in a Tennessee town where he had settled. That town carries the hush of many small American lives and the quiet after a life of song.
Who are the older relatives mentioned
The family includes grandparents and great grandparents whose names read like a map: a grandfather and grandmother, and in the prior generation a pair of great grandparents. They form the deeper roots of the family tree and explain the continuity of names and traditions.
