Dorothy Bush Koch

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Dorothy Bush Koch
Doro bush koch 2006.jpg
Koch at the 2006 Texas Book Festival
Born
Dorothy Walker Bush

(1959-08-18) August 18, 1959 (age 62)
Harris County, Texas, U.S.
Alma materBoston College (BA)
Spouse(s)
William LeBlond
​
​
(m. 1982; div. 1990)​
​
​
(m. 1992)​
Children4
Parent(s)
RelativesBush family

Dorothy Walker "Doro" Bush Koch (born August 18, 1959) is an American author and philanthropist.[1] She is the sixth child of the late 41st President of the United States, George H. W. Bush, and former First Lady Barbara Bush.

Early life[]

Bush family in the early 1960s, Dorothy on far left

Dorothy Walker Bush was born on August 18, 1959, in Harris County, Texas. Her father, George H. W. Bush, was the 41st President of the United States, and her mother, Barbara Bush, was the First Lady. She was named after her paternal grandmother, Dorothy Walker Bush. Her brother, George W. Bush, was the 43rd President of the United States. Her other four siblings are Pauline Robinson "Robin" Bush, who died of leukemia in 1953; former Florida governor Jeb Bush; Neil Bush; and Marvin Bush.[2] Since she was a child, she has spent summers and holidays at the Bush compound, a seacoast estate in Kennebunkport, Maine.

Bush was educated at Miss Porter's School, a private all-girl college-preparatory school in Farmington, Connecticut.

In 1975, during a visit to Beijing, she became the first person to be publicly baptized in the People's Republic of China since its government began discouraging foreign religious practices in 1949.[3]

She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from Boston College in 1982.[4]

Career and volunteer work[]

Bush is an event organizer and fundraiser for charities and other nonprofit organizations. She co-chairs the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy along with her brother Jeb. She has also served as a pioneer fundraiser for her brother's presidential campaigns.[5]

She is the author of the book My Father, My President: A Personal Account of the Life of George H. W. Bush (2006).

She sponsored the commission of USS George H.W. Bush, her father's namesake. On January 10, 2009, she gave the first orders to the ship's company at Norfolk, Virginia.[6]

Personal life[]

In 1982, Bush married William Heekin LeBlond (b. January 11, 1957). They had two children, Samuel Bush Sam LeBlond (b. 1985) and Nancy Ellis Ellie LeBlond (b. 1988). They divorced in 1990.[7]

In June 1992, she married Robert P. "Bobby" Koch (b. 1960), today a Washington, D.C. lobbyist on behalf of the wine industry. The wedding took place at Camp David. They have two children, Robert David (b. 1993) and Georgia Gigi Grace (b. 1996). Robert P. Koch was an aide to House Democratic leader Richard Gephardt, and is president of the California-based Wine Institute.[8] He has a substantial equity interest in Central European Distribution Corp., a company that manufactures and distributes vodka in Poland.[9]

References[]

  1. ^ Texas Births, 1926-1995 Family Tree Legends
  2. ^ Knott, Stephen. "George H. W. Bush: Life Before the Presidency". Charlottesville, Virginia: Miller Center, the University of Virginia. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  3. ^ Wead, Doug. All the Presidents' Children. Atria (January 6, 2004), p.291.
  4. ^ "Teacher Weds Dorothy Bush". The New York Times. September 2, 1982. Retrieved July 16, 2015.
  5. ^ Bush Donor Profile: Dorothy Bush Koch Archived October 9, 2011, at the Wayback Machine Texans For Public Justice
  6. ^ "Aircraft Carrier Named the USS George H.W. Bush Commissioned". Fox News. January 10, 2009.
  7. ^ Knight-Ridder News Service (June 26, 1992). "A Bush wedding is under wraps". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved July 16, 2015.
  8. ^ "Wine Institute of California announces Robert P. Koch as President and Chief Executive Officer". PRNewswire (Press release). June 12, 2003.
  9. ^ "Central European Distribution Corp". Company Profile. US SEC. 2006-02-06. Retrieved 2007-12-22.

External links[]

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