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Dorothy Bush Koch

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Dorothy Bush Koch
Koch in 2006
Born
Dorothy Walker Bush

(1959-08-18) August 18, 1959 (age 65)
Harris County, Texas, U.S.
Alma materBoston College (BA)
Occupation(s)Author, philanthropist
Spouses
William LeBlond
​
​
(m. 1982; div. 1990)​
​
​
(m. 1992)​
Children4
Parents
RelativesBush family

Dorothy Walker Bush LeBlond Koch (born August 18, 1959) is an American author and philanthropist.[1] She is the sixth and youngest child of the 41st president of the United States, George H. W. Bush, and First Lady Barbara Bush. Her older brother, George W. Bush was the 43rd U.S. president.

Early life

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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, in office from 2001 to 2009. 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 her childhood 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 communist 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

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Bush is an event organizer and fundraiser for charities and other nonprofit organizations. She co-chairs the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy[5] along with her brother Jeb. She also served as a pioneer fundraiser for her brother's presidential campaigns.[6]

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, a United States Navy aircraft carrier named after her father, who in World War II was a naval aviator serving on an aircraft carrier. On January 10, 2009, she gave the first orders to the ship's company at Norfolk, Virginia.[7]

Personal life

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In 1982, Bush married William Heekin LeBlond (b. January 11, 1957). They had two children, Samuel Bush "Sam" LeBlond (b. 1984) and Nancy Ellis "Ellie" LeBlond (b. 1986). They divorced in 1990.[8]

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.[9] He has a substantial equity interest in Central European Distribution Corp., a company that manufactures and distributes vodka in Poland.[10]

References

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  1. ^ Texas Births, 1926-1995 Archived May 24, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Family Tree Legends
  2. ^ Knott, Stephen (October 4, 2016). "George H. W. Bush: Life Before the Presidency". Charlottesville, Virginia: Miller Center, the University of Virginia. Archived from the original on June 21, 2019. 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. Archived from the original on July 23, 2015. Retrieved July 16, 2015.
  5. ^ Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy
  6. ^ Bush Donor Profile: Dorothy Bush Koch Archived October 9, 2011, at the Wayback Machine Texans For Public Justice
  7. ^ "Aircraft Carrier Named the USS George H.W. Bush Commissioned". Fox News. January 10, 2009. Archived from the original on January 12, 2009. Retrieved January 10, 2009.
  8. ^ Knight-Ridder News Service (June 26, 1992). "A Bush wedding is under wraps". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on July 17, 2015. Retrieved July 16, 2015.
  9. ^ "Wine Institute of California announces Robert P. Koch as President and Chief Executive Officer". PRNewswire (Press release). June 12, 2003. Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved October 12, 2006.
  10. ^ "Central European Distribution Corp". Company Profile. US SEC. February 6, 2006. Archived from the original on July 28, 2013. Retrieved December 22, 2007.
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