William Clay Ford Sr.’s Grave

For fifty years, the Detroit Lions were his — for better and, Lions fans would say, mostly for worse. William Clay Ford Sr., the youngest of Edsel’s children and Henry Ford’s grandson, bought the team in the early 1960s and held it until his death in 2014: a half-century of Sundays Detroit endured with the loyalty only a hometown can muster. He rests at Woodlawn steps from his parents, beneath a grey granite sarcophagus readied in advance, name already carved.

Auto heir, longtime Lions owner, patient benefactor of a franchise that tested every ounce of patience — he’s a Detroit story whether or not the trophies ever came. On our list.