Raymond Joseph French, Jr is a celebrity parent. He is known because of his famous daughter Melinda Ann French commonly known as Melinda French Gates. Raymond’s daughter Melinda is well-known for her work as a philanthropist. She used to be a multimedia product developer and manager at Microsoft. She is the ex-wife of billionaire Bill Gates.
Raymond Joseph French, Jr.: Bio Summary
| Name | Raymond Joseph French, Jr. |
| Famous as | father of Melinda French Gates |
| Born | 1939 |
| Place of birth | Louisiana, USA |
| Nationality | American |
| Parents | Raymond Joseph French Sr and Clare Louise French |
| Spouse | Elaine Agnes Amerland |
| Children | Melinda French Gates |
| Grandchildren | Phoebe Adele Gates, Jennifer Gates, and Rory John Gates |
Who Is The Father Of Melinda French Gates?
Raymond Joseph French Jr is an aerospace engineer who is best known as the father of billionaire Bill Gates’ former wife Melinda French Gates. Raymond Jr was welcomed into the world in the year 1939, in Louisiana, United States of America. His father’s name is Raymond Joseph French Sr and his mother’s name is Clare Louise Fischer.
Raymond Jr may have brothers and sisters but their information is not in the spotlight. He hasn’t provided details regarding his life as a child. He worked as an aerospace engineer. He worked on the launch of The Apollo missions. He fell in love and eventually married a woman named Elaine Agnes Amerland. Raymond Jr and Elaine Agnes Amerland reportedly met after a Nun arranged their blind date.
The two dated for some time before agreeing to become husband and wife. Raymond Jr and his wife Elaine, a homemaker have four children. The couple raised two daughters and two sons. Raymond Jr and his wife did their best to take care of their children.
Raymond Joseph French, Jr. reportedly worked in the renting business, a side job he took during the early years of his marriage to provide for his family. He has not been romantically linked with any woman apart from his wife Elaine Agnes Amerland. Nothing is known about his past relationships. It is unknown if he had any woman in his life before Elaine came into the picture.
Raymond Joseph French, Jr’s Famous Daughter
Among Raymond Jr and Elaine’s children Melinda French Gates, born Melinda Ann French is famous. She is the second child of their four children. Raymond Jr and his daughter Melinda share a great bond. Melinda has revealed why her father is “such an important figure” in her life. In honor of Father’s Day, Melinda disclosed that: “One of the many things I admire about my dad is that he was the first in his family to go to college.”
“As family legend has it, the fall after he graduated high school, he boarded the train to Georgia Tech with just his newspaper route earnings and a jar of peanut butter. From there, he went on to get a masters degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford and a job at an aerospace company that worked with NASA on the Apollo missions.”
“I can still remember how it felt to see a rocket shoot into the sky, knowing he’d helped make it happen. Even though I didn’t know a lot of women who worked outside the home, I always knew that I wanted to have an exciting career like my dad’s.” Melinda revealed that she has memories of doing science fair projects with her father. She said her father is the first person she heard talk about the importance of diversity in STEM.
Raymond Jr “made a point of hiring women when he could because he believed the best teams he’d worked on were the ones with women mathematicians on them.” Melinda disclosed that her father is the reason she was able to learn about the work of a computer scientist and actually see herself doing it.
Melinda added that she has so much to thank her father for. Before Melinda became who she is today, she was tutoring children in mathematics and computer programming. That was her first job. She later worked as a marketing manager with Microsoft.
Melinda was responsible for the development of multimedia products including Cinemania, Encarta, Publisher, Microsoft Bob, Money, Works (Macintosh), and Word. She worked on Expedia, an online travel agency, and was appointed as General Manager of Information Products in the early 1990s. She managed to hold this position until the year 1996.
Melinda left Microsoft to focus on starting a family. She was a member of Duke University’s Board of Trustees (1996 to 2003). She is present at the annual Bilderberg Group conference. She has held a seat on the Board of Directors of Graham Holdings (formerly The Washington Post Company) since 2004. She was on the board of directors at Drugstore.com.
Melinda French Gates is the co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Melinda founded Pivotal Ventures as a separate, independent organization to identify and implement innovative solutions to problems affecting U.S. women and families. She is also an author known for the book The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World.
Raymond Joseph French, Jr’s daughter Melinda French Gates has consistently been ranked as one of the world’s most powerful women by Forbes magazine.
ALSO, READ: Rory John Gates, Bill Gates’ son only son
Raymond Joseph French, Jr. Is A Grandfather
Raymond Joseph French, Jr’s family keeps expanding. He may have grandchildren from his other children but his known grandchildren are the three children of his famous daughter Melinda French Gates and her now ex-husband billionaire Bill Gates. Raymond Jr has two granddaughters Jennifer Gates and Phoebe Adele Gates and a grandson Rory John Gates.
Where Is Melinda French Gates’ Father Now?
Melinda French Gates’ father, Raymond Joseph French, Jr reportedly lives in Washington with his family. He lives his life privately away from the public. It is assumed that he is healthy because there hasn’t been any news of him being sick. Unfortunately, his wife Elaine Agnes Amerland is not alive. Elaine is said to have died of breast cancer.
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