Hadley Twp. – It’s been almost 40 years since Bill Schiffel, then a 27-year-old reporter for The Grand Rapids Press newspaper, first met then Michigan Congressman Gerald Ford.
The chance encounter with Ford on a warm summer day in 1967 seemed insignificant at the time.
Schiffel, now 67 and a township resident, says the meeting with Ford came after the political reporter for The Grand Rapids Press was out that day. Schiffel was asked to meet Ford at the Grand Rapids airport.
‘I think Ford arrived on a commercial airplane,? said Schiffel. ‘I found out about 15 minutes before he arrived that I had to do that interview. I spoke with Ford right there at the airport.?
Six years later, President Richard Nixon named Ford vice-president after Spiro Agnew resigned the post in a corruption scandal. Ford, a resident of Grand Rapids, took office as the 38th President on Aug. 9, 1974, following Nixon’s resignation. He lost the 1976 presidential election to Democrat Jimmy Carter.
On Dec. 26, Ford died at his home in California. He was 93.
‘Mr. Ford was very accommodating of my shortcomings,? laughed Schiffel, who later worked for the Associated Press as a reporter. ‘I stumbled around to figure out what to ask him’it was obvious to him that I was not up-to-date with any of the issues. Ford tried to make the assignment easy for me, he kind of gently prodded me in the right direction.?
Schiffel says he had the opportunity to contact Ford several more times over the next few years and recalls an easy- going man with a sense of humor.
‘He was a nice guy, I can’t remember what our conversations were all about’but he was a pleasant man. Ford made sure he stayed in contact with The Grand Rapids Press, the local newspaper.?