Background

Ford, Clay was born on September 24, 1938 in Wynne, Florida, United States.

Education

He studied at the United States Army War College in Carlisle Barracks in Pennsylvania and the United States Air Force War College in Frankfurt, Germany. In 1986, Ford obtained a Master of Science degree in Public Administration from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania.

Career

He served in the infantry in the United States Army, the Army Reserve, and the Arkansas National Guard from 1955 to 1988, having advanced through the ranks from private to colonel. In 1969, he received a Bachelor of Arts in Finance from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. In 1978, he obtained a Juris Doctor from the University of Arkansas School of Law, also in Fayetteville.

He was a delegate to the Arkansas Constitutional Convention held in Little Rock in 1978 and 1979. After moving to Florida, he served on the Gulf Breeze City Council from 1990 to 2007 and was president of the Florida League of Cities from 2004 to 2005. On February 27, 2007, he was elected to the Florida House to succeed Holly Benson, who had been appointed to head the Department of Business and Professional Regulation by then Governor Charlie Crist.

Ford was re-elected to the Florida House in November 2008. From 2008 to 2009, he was the House Deputy Whip. He was affiliated with the Gulf Breeze Chamber of Commerce and Rotary International.

He received endorsements from the NRA as well as the Florida Chamber of Commerce and Florida Right to Life. Ford died of cancer in Florida at the age of seventy-four. Last night, Clay lost his brave fight with cancer.

The Florida Legislature recognized Representative Clay Ford by naming the Minority Scholarship for accounting students the Clay Ford Scholarship Program in the 2013 legislative session.

Achievements

• Bar: Arkansas, Florida.

Politics

The state should not use its authority to promote particular religious beliefs, nor should it require prayer or worship in the public schools. However, the state should leave students free to practice their own religious convictions.

Views

Methodist member is very much a folk theologian who should speak 'plain truth to plain people'.

Membership

Member Arkansas Pulaski County Special School District Board, 1977—1979. Former board member Gulf Breeze Chamber of Commerce, 1987—1988, 2007—2008. Former chairman Bay Area Resources Council, 1995—2007.

Member of National Rifle Association (life), Arkansas Bar Association, Florida Bar Association, Escambia-Santa Rosa Bar Association, National League of Cities (board member), Florida League of Cities (president 2004-2005), Gulf Breeze Rotary Club, American Legion.

Connections

Married Carol Ann Ford. Children: David, Doug, Clay.

spouse:

Carol Ann Ford

child:

Clay Ford

child:

David Ford

child:

Doug Ford