American businessman, who was the father of former First Lady of the United States, United States Senator from New York, United States Secretary of State, and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton.
He briefly worked for his father’s employer, Scranton Lace Company, then freighthopped to Chicago without telling his parents. Rodham found work there selling drapery fabrics around the Midwest, sending the money he made back home. In 1937, while Rodham was making a sales call at a textile company, he met Dorothy Emma Howell (1919–2011), who was applying for a job at that company. After a lengthy courtship, they married in early 1942.
In World War II Rodham served in the United States Navy. He became a Chief Petty Officer stationed at the Great Lakes Naval Station, performing training duties for sailors headed for the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II. After the war, he established a successful career in the textile supply industry, starting with Rodrik Fabrics, a drapery fabric business located in Chicago’s famous Merchandise Mart building. His company made draperies and window shades; customers included offices, hotels, airlines, and theaters.
The Rodhams had three children: Hillary (born 1947), Hugh (born 1950), and Tony (born 1954).
Hugh Rodham died in Little Rock, Arkansas, on 7 April 1993, three weeks after suffering a stroke and less than three months after Bill Clinton’s inauguration as 42nd President of the United States.
Link to Wikipedia biography