Ann Romney
Ann Romney is the wife of U.S. Senator Mitt Romney. She is a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
She was born Ann Lois Davies on April 16, 1949, to Edward R. Davies and Lois Davies. Her father was from Wales, a self-made businessman. Ann cited her humble roots in Wales during the 2012 presidential campaign.
She grew up in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and dated Mitt Romney when she attended the private Kingswood School, a school for girls. Mitt attended Kingswood's sister school, a school for boys — Cranbrook School. Mitt Romney went to Stanford for his first year of college and then left on an mission for the Church of Jesus Christ to France for 30 months. While he was gone, Ann converted to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. (Her two brothers followed her into the LDS Church.)
After graduating from high school (Mitt is 2 years older than she), she attended Brigham Young University. She also spent a semester at the University of Grenoble in France during her freshman year. Shortly after Mitt's return from his mission, the two married on March 21, 1969, at her Bloomfield Hills home, with a reception afterward at a local country club. This was a civil ceremony officiated by an Elder of the Church of Jesus Christ. The following day the couple flew to Utah for a wedding ceremony inside the Salt Lake Temple.
Mitt and Ann both attended BYU, renting a $75 per month basement apartment. Their first of five sons was born during this time, in 1970. After Mitt graduated, the couple moved to Boston so that he could attend Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School. Splitting her time between motherhood and education, Ann completed her undergraduate education through the Extension School at Harvard University with a Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree with a concentration in French language in 1975.
Ann was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1998. Very ill at the time, she has enjoyed a long period of remission, crediting her enthusiastic participation in equestrianism (horseback riding and dressage), medical help, and natural products. She appreciates the benefits of both Eastern and Western medicine. She is a board member for the New England chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and has been given the MS Society's Annual Hope Award. In 2008, she was also diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), a non-invasive type of breast cancer. She underwent a lumpectomy in December of the same year and has since been cancer-free. [1]
Ann is an avid equestrian and sometimes competes in professional dressage events. She earned a gold medal in the 2006 Grand Prix level from the United States Dressage Federation. She also won a silver medal in 2005. Ann works with California trainer Jan Ebeling and, in turn, supports Ebeling in her competitions, most recently Ebeling’s successful work to make the 2012 Summer Olympics equestrian team. Ebeling, riding a horse owned by Ann and Mitt, placed 28th in the competition.
While Mitt Romney was the governor of Massachusetts, she served as the governor's liaison for federal faith-based initiatives. She is involved with a number of charities, including Operation Kids and Best Friends. She worked extensively with the Ten Point Coalition in Boston and with other groups that promoted better safety and opportunities for urban youths. She has also served as a board member for the United Way of America and helped found United Way Faith and Action.
The Romneys own a home near each of their five sons and their respective families: Park City, Utah; Holladay, Utah; La Jolla, California; Belmont, Massachusetts; and Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. They devote much of their time to their grandchildren, which numbered 24 in 2019.
Ann Romney has been a positive influence on her husband's run for the Republican presidential nomination during 2011–2012. She finds favor among people of all persuasions, partly for her calm, personable nature, and partly because of the family values she represents and trials she's overcome.
She published her cookbook, The Romney Family Table, in 2013. It spent three weeks in the top 20 of the New York Times bestseller “Advice, How-to and Miscellaneous” list following its October 2013 release. Proceeds from her book go to the Center for Neurologic Diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, which is doing highly successful research on neurologic diseases including multiple sclerosis.
She and Mitt coauthored Simple Truths for an Abundant Life From One Generation to Another. The introduction of the book includes, "Mitt Romney has often wished his great-grandfather, Parley P. Pratt, had left him such individual counsel. Motivated by this desire, Ann and Mitt Romney candidly share their lessons of a lifetime through brief bits of wisdom for their grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and beyond."[2]
