Dick Cote gave a presentation for the Rotary Club of Richmond Hill last week at the City Center in J.F. Gregory Park.
Relying on family records about his aunt, Evangeline Cote, and a book, “The Secret Life of Henry Ford,” he explained that Evangeline had a close working and personal relationship with Henry Ford when she was a young woman in her 20s and he was a mature man in his 60s.
Evangeline was ahead of her time and progressed rapidly in her career at Ford’s automobile company from clerical work to becoming a significant decision maker who wielded power. She became a licensed pilot and flouted the conventions of the day.
It is widely believed that her son, John, was the outcome of her relationship with Henry Ford.