LIFESTYLES A Tuxedo Is More Than A Mere Formality. PROFILE Will Roberts: Helping Hand CARLA JEAN SCHWARTZ Local Columnist 17 Metro Locations including OAKLAND MALL rresident7Puxe(10‘ 'Free GrooMs Tuxedo Rental with a party of six or more. 585-5494 Milt Neuman, Manager Dance Class Alternative 6th & 7th GRADERS PRE-TEEN & ADULT DANCE CLASSES Mon., Jan. 14 6:30-7:3 SOLD OUT 7:30-8:30 p.m. 10 WEEK SESSIONS $125.00 Wed.. Jan. 16 6:30-7:3 SOLD OUT 7:30-8:30 p.m. FALL: 1990 WINTER 1991 Thurs., Ian. 17 7:00-8:00 p.m. 411Dr411.F. LESHMAN-LYNN ENTERPRISES, INC. Barbara 851.5133 Dee-Dee 851-4948 I 4c.VX-44 Our c9 greatest Natural -ia•N- v7#ResourceS I " , I it k\\ THE FIFTH QUESTION: Certified Kosher Have you ordered your holiday cakes yet? Kashruth Council 24370 W. Ten Mile Rd., Just W. of Telegraph 102 FRIDAY, MARCH 23, 1990 Metropolitan 355-0088 NAME: Wilbert Roberts AGE: 68 OCCUPATION: Corporate executive. Vice- president of R-Way Distributors and treasurer of Electric One, Inc. FAMILY: Divorced. Three children: Pamela Raitt resides in Southfield; Rachel Elman resides in Huntington Woods; and son, Nelson Roberts, is owner of Nu-Tec Construction and resides in West Bloomfield. He has two grandchildren. His brother, Ian Rubinstein, resides in Elgin, Ill. His sister, Bertha Merzon, lives in Oak Park, while sister Adele Cole resides in Southfield. Two sisters, Diane Zuppke and Miriam Blyvies, reside in Fort Meyers, Fla. Another sister, Rose Gordon, lives in Madison, Wis. EDUCATION: He was graduated from East Aurora High School in Aurora, Ill. ORGANIZATIONS: Chairman of the board of Kingswood Hospital and Michigan area liaison for the DeSisto School in Stockbridge, Mass. FAVORITE BOOK: One favorite author is Tom Clancy. HOBBIES: "I have no hobbies except for the work I do with hospitals and schools?' LATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT: "I got out of bed this morning." PHILOSOPHY: "Be straight forward and share your feelings. Confrontation in a positive way is the basic element of all relationships?' BACKGROUND: Will Roberts is the tenth child of Fanny and Nathan Rubinstein of Aurora, Ill. His father was an Orthodox rabbi. "Life was the pits?" recalls Roberts of his childhood during the Depression. Besides poverty, Roberts remembers a troubled adolescence starting at age 12 when his father had a stroke. He also remembers not feeling comfortable as an Orthodox Jew in a gentile neighborhood. "I barely graduated high school," he adds. At age 17 he left home for Detroit because his sister, Bertha, found him a job. He learned how to become an auto parts salesman at Progressive Auto on Linwood Avenue. From 1942 to 1946 Roberts served in the U.S. Army's 78th Infantry Division in Europe. His division witnessed the liberation of the concentration camps. After service in the army, he settled in Flint. He became active in the Flint Jewish community, serving as gifts chairman for the United Jewish Appeal, president of the American Jewish Congress and a board member of Congregation Beth Israel. In 1962 he was the recipient of the National Young Leadership award. He was a community volunteer for Flint General Hospital. While in Flint he founded the Yankee department stores, the first discount mass merchandising company which grew to 20 outlets with an annual volume over 50 million dollars. At age 42 he sold his business to Borman Foods and retired for three months. He then worked at Chatham grocery stores as a senior vice-president, director of marketing. He moved to Bloomfield Hills and was one of the first Jews to live near the Cranbrook Educational Community. When one of his children had a behavioral problem, he looked into private schools. He chose a private school headed by Michael DeSisto. When DeSisto left to begin his own school, Roberts helped organize it in 1978. Today Roberts is still active in the DeSisto School in Stockbridge, Mass., in addition to his business career as vice- president of R-Way Distributors and treasurer of Electric One, Inc. He is a liaison for the Michigan area parents, whose children attend the school. Roberts is always available to advise students, parents and prospective enrollees. Roberts says that there are many Jewish students and families involved with the school. "We do not take a child; we take a family," Roberts says. Roberts is still involved as a hospital