James Raymond Jordan Sr. (July 31, 1936 – July 23, 1993) was the father of former basketball player Michael Jordan, and was the grandfather of former basketball players Jeffrey Jordan and Marcus Jordan. Life James Jordan Sr. was born in Wallace, North Carolina, on July 31, 1936. While attending Charity High School, he met Deloris Peoples (born September 1941). The two began dating and remained together for the next three years. Upon graduation, Jordan Sr. joined the Air Force and was stationed in San Antonio, Texas. In 1956, he transferred to a base in Virginia and married Peoples shortly thereafter. Their first child, son James Ronald "Ronnie" Jr., was born the following year. Jordan Sr. left the Air Force and got a job at a textile mill in Wallace. The Jordans had two more children: daughter Deloris, and a son, Larry. In 1963, the Jordans left their children with Jordan Sr.'s mother and moved to Brooklyn so that he could receive mechanic's training on the G.I. Bill. He studied airplane hydraulics, while Peoples found work at a bank. While living in Brooklyn, the Jordans had another child, son Michael. As crime began to increase in Brooklyn in the 1960s, the Jordans moved back to North Carolina to raise their children in a safer environment. Upon completing his 18 months' training, Jordan Sr. and his family moved to Wilmington, North Carolina. It was there that the couple's fifth child, Roslyn, was born. A lifelong basketball fan, Jordan Sr. played a large role in inspiring his son Michael to become an athlete and traveled the United States to follow his son's career, first at the University of North Carolina and then with the Chicago Bulls. Nonetheless, Jordan Sr. was also a very big baseball fan, having gone semi-pro himself. In his autobiography and in interviews throughout his career, son Michael recounted that it was his father's vision that he become a baseball star. Baseball was, in fact, the first sport Jordan Sr. had taught him to play. Michael recounted that this was a major factor in his decision to try baseball after his first retirement from the NBA. In her memoir In My Family's Shadow, Jordan Sr.'s daughter Deloris accused him of sexually molesting her between the ages of 8 and 16. Death On July 23, 1993, while returning home after spending the day playing golf, Jordan Sr. pulled over on US