McDonough was born in Tokyo and grew up with his parents in Hong Kong, then a city of 6 million people that sat on 40 square miles that was without water in the dry season.
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| McDonough helped become the driving force of the Rouge renovation after reaching a rapport with Ford in the weeks between the 1999 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. (Photo: Ford Motor Company) |
"I am still befuddled when I see someone leaving water around and not treating it as a precious resource," he said. "I just don't understand because it is such a great gift. The fact that you can get up in the morning, go make your breakfast and have your shower, shave and just water the plants and water the dog and go to work is a miracle."
He was even influenced by his grandparents, who lived in the water abundant Puget Sound region of Washington.
"My grandparents were very careful with water because they grew up during the Great Depression and lived out in the woods," he said. "They raised oysters, traded raspberries for flowers with neighbors; saved aluminum foil and rubber bands; grew everything they could in compost soil in the summer and put it away for the winter; and it kept the spring clean and clear. Yet, the water in their house was still precious."
McDonough helped become the driving force of the Rouge renovation after reaching a rapport with Ford in the weeks between the 1999 North American International Auto Show in Detroit that was hampered by unprecedented snowfall and the powerhouse explosion.
"I met him on January 14, 1999, after he was chairman for two weeks," McDonough recalled. "I had a 15 minute appointment.... Once we started the meeting, however, it went all afternoon. He just kept telling me, 'stay here.' And we'd do another meeting in his office and we just kept talking."