Wikimedia Commons Raymond Kethledge's children include a daughter and son.
Raymond Kethledge’s children include a daughter and a namesake son. He has two kids with his wife of almost 25 years, Jessica Kethledge, and they are named Ella and Ray.
Raymond Kethledge was widely reported to be among President Donald Trump’s final three choices to replace Anthony Kennedy on the United States Supreme Court. The other two choices believed to be federal Judges Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh. With some conservatives dividing over Barrett and Kavanaugh, Kethledge could emerge as the compromise pick. Trump will announce his selection on July 9, 2018. In the end, Trump chose Brett Kavanaugh.
Kethledge’s growing public persona has increased scrutiny of all aspects of Raymond Kethledge’s biography, including his family and children.
Here’s what you need to know:
Kethledge’s Daughter, Ella, Likes Jane Goodall & Is In Forensics & His Son Is in College
Raymond Kethledge’s wife and daughter at his confirmation hearing.
According to Politico, Raymond and Jessica Kethledge are the parents of two children. Ray, 20, is a junior in college, and Ella, 17, is a senior in high school.
His book says that Ray’s daughter Ella loves animals and reading and wanted him to write a book about Jane Goodall instead.
His daughter Ella appears to be living a life like many other youth in the Midwest. There are still videos online of her singing in middle school choral concerts; in one, she sings a song called, “I can hear bells.”
She was listed as getting an A in test results posted to Facebook. She had a Twitter page, but it’s been deleted (as has her father’s Facebook page.) She was in forensics. Ray Kethledge, the son, had an Instagram page, but it, too, has been scrubbed.
“My wife is Jessica Levinson Kethledge. Prior to our marriage, her name was Jessica Davi Levinson. She is home with our two children full-time,” Kethledge said during his confirmation hearing.
She graduated from Connecticut College in 1989. Raymond Benjamin was born in 1997, according to a college newsletter.
“Jessica Levinson Kethledge, husband, Ray, and new baby, Raymond, are ‘doing well and enjoying family life,'” the article reported.
Kethledge’s Wife Jessica Kethledge Used to Work for the Red Cross
Wikimedia CommonsRaymond Kethledge
Jessica and Ray Kethledge have known each other since their early teenage years. According to Politico, Kethledge “met his wife, Jessica, when they were only 13 years old.”
They will celebrate 25 years of marriage later in 2018, the site reports. Ancestry records show they were married on August 21, 1993 in Vermont. Raymond Kethledge is 51. Jessica and Ray were married by a man named Harold Makepeace who ran the Spiral Shop Gallery, according to their marriage certificate.
Online records show that Jessica Kethledge is also in her 50s. A Connecticut College newsletter from 1997 says, “Jessica Levinson Kethledge is living in Alexandria, VA, and working for American Red Cross National Headquarters in the Disaster Services Department. She was married to Ray Kethledge in Green River, VT, in Aug. ’93.”
Raymond Kethledge currently serves on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He was appointed to the court in 2008 by President George W. Bush. He’s a graduate of the University of Michigan and University of Michigan Law School.
He’s also spent time in private practice, and as counsel for U.S. Sen. Spencer Abraham (R-Mich.) and Ford Motor Company, according to Ballotpedia. He was a law clerk for federal judge Ralph Guy Jr., a Ronald Reagan appointee.
Kethledge’s Wife & Children Were at His Confirmation Hearing
When Kethledge was nominated to the federal bench, his wife and two children accompanied him to the confirmation hearing. “Chairman, I’d like to introduce my wife, Jessica, my daughter, Ella, my son, Ray,” he said, according to a video of the moment.
He added that his father, Ray Ketchledge, his sister, Lori Strasius, and his mother, Diane Ketchledge, were also present. You can read the full transcript from that hearing here.
An obituary for Jessica’s grandmother says the family has roots in Massachusetts. Her grandmother was Anne Levinson (Whitman) Bornstein and she was 101 when she died.
One famous anecdote about Kethledge: His barn office in northern Michigan overlooking Lake Huron in a wooded area.
“I have no internet connection, the HVAC is a wood stove, and my workspace is a simple pine desk,” he told Above the Law, adding that he told one friend “that I get an extra 20 IQ points from being in that office.”
Jessica Kethledge is a runner. She completed a half marathon in 2009. She is registered to vote in Michigan but has no voter affiliation. The family lives in Novi, Michigan.