Family
Actresses Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine are de Havilland's cousins; his father, Charles, and their father, Walter, were half-brothers.
In 1909, Geoffrey de Havilland married Louise Thomas, who had formerly been governess to de Havilland's sisters. They had three sons, Peter, Geoffrey and John.
Two of the sons died as test pilots in de Havilland aircraft. His youngest son, John, died in an air collision involving two Mosquitoes in 1943. Geoffrey carried out the first flights of the Mosquito and Vampire and was killed in 1946 flying the jet-powered DH 108 Swallow while diving at or near the speed of sound. Louise suffered a nervous breakdown following these deaths and died in 1949. In 1951, de Havilland remarried, to Joan Mary Frith, a divorcée. They remained married until his death.
Read more about this topic: Geoffrey De Havilland
Famous quotes containing the word family:
“Our children need to be able to see us take a stand for a value and against injustices, be those values and injustices in the family room, the boardroom, the classroom, or on the city streets.”
—Barbara Coloroso (20th century)
“The value of a family is that it cushions and protects while the individual is learning ways of coping. And a supportive social system provides the same kind of cushioning for the family as a whole.”
—Michael W. Yogman, and T. Berry Brazelton (20th century)
“Family lore can be a bore, but only when you are hearing it, never when you are relating it to the ones who will be carrying it on for you. A family without a storyteller or two has no way to make sense out of their past and no way to get a sense of themselves.”
—Frank Pittman (20th century)