John DeLorean - Early Life

Early Life

John Zachary DeLorean was born on January 6, 1925 in Detroit, Michigan, the eldest of four sons of Zachary and Kathryn Pribak DeLorean.

DeLorean's father Zaharie was a Romanian immigrant, originally from Şugag, Alba County, who worked in a mill factory; Zaharie emigrated to the United States when he was twenty. He spent time in Montana and Gary, Indiana before moving to Michigan. By the time John was born, Zaharie had found employment as a union organizer at the Ford Motor Company factory in nearby Highland Park. His poor English skills and lack of education prevented him from higher-paid work. When not required at Ford, he occasionally worked as a carpenter.

DeLorean's mother, Kathryn, was an immigrant from Austria. She was employed at the Carboloy Products Division of General Electric throughout much of DeLorean's early life. She accepted work whenever found to supplement the family's low income. She generally tolerated her husband's erratic behavior, but during several of the worst times of Zachary's violent tendencies, she would take her sons to live with her sister in Los Angeles, California, where they would stay for a year or so at a time.

DeLorean's parents divorced in 1942. John subsequently saw little of his father, who moved into a boarding house, becoming a solitary and estranged alcoholic. Several years after the divorce, John visited his father, finding him so impaired by alcohol that they could barely communicate.