SPORTS Photos by Glenn Triest Tennis-and-fitness maven Seymour Brode always has been something of a recreation business visionary. Mr. Brode with grandchildren, Robby Trager, 11; Ryan Trager, 10; Jamie Trager, 8; Andrew Garon, 4; and Bradley Ga ron, 2. PA PA SEE RICHARD PEARL Special to The Jewish News C !Seymour with grandkid Ryan Trager, 10. harles Matler shouldn't have worried. "Only my daugh- ter," he would groan, "would marry a man who works half- days — from 9 to 9." "Only my daughter would marry a man who would build swimming pools in Michigan." If only Dee Matler's father could have known the nick- name son-in-law Seymour Brode would earn one day from grandson Robby Trager. When toddler Robby had trouble pronouncing Grandpa Seymour's name, he simply called him "Papa See." A more appropriate nick- name would be hard to find, because during the past 34 years, Seymour Brode has been particularly sharp-eyed in visualizing others' recreational needs and seeing to it those needs are met, in Detroit and in Israel. Beginning with an in- ground swimming pool busi- ness founded in the late 1950s, when post-war De- troiters wanted the finer things in life and had the cash for them, Brode has parlayed an instinct for innovation, a strong sense of direction and a fondness for people into a successful career in the recreational field. Besides being owner- operator of Franklin Fitness and Racquet Club of South- field and Centaur of West Bloomfield, Brode also is president of Israel Tennis Centers, Inc., and the Michi- gan Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, which this year will host its first Hank Greenberg Memorial Invitational Golf Tournament. Franklin itself is an impres- sive facility: with over 6,000 members, 200 employees and 250,000 square feet of space, it is the largest combination indoor racquet sports-and-fit- ness center in Michigan. The key to Brode's success has been his being able to see things before they happen and make a success of doing them. "If I think it's right, I'll go into it and do it," he says. That sense of rightness led him to create, despite his father-in-law's dire predic- tions ("You'll die, you'll starve."), a company called Starlite Pools, which became the biggest swimming pool builder in Michigan. It also led him to his first Israel Tennis Centers fund-raiser some years back, and more recently to plunge into the newest market — youth fit- ness and recreation — with Kidsports Fun and Fitness Clubs at Franklin and other Detroit locations. Not surprisingly, the hus- ky, 6-foot-plus Brode, a tennis buff and nature-lover with a dulcet voice and easy man- ner, has many admirers. "He's got a great personali- ty — a good leader, a take- charge guy," says longtime friend, neighbor and former Franklin partner Phil Min- kin. "He's always on the go. His mind is always working," says his uncle, Dickie Schram. "He's an Aquarian," notes wife Dee about her husband of 41 years. "He always does things others wouldn't do." Brode says simply he likes to make people happy, but admits that has often meant changing with the times. One such change — when Brode sold Starlite Pools in 1970 to concentrate on the then two-year-old Franklin Racquet Club — definitely made the rest of Michigan's pool builders happy. "All the rest of us in Michi- gan were saying 'Thank goodness he went into the tennis business,' " recalls Paddock Pool's (Starlite's greatest competitor) Chuck Robertson. Starting from scratch in 1957, out of a garage at 10 Mile and Northwestern with partners • Harold Brode (a cousin) and friend Seymour Joffe, Starlite went from 20 in-ground installations the first year to over 300 a year the next 12 years. Starlite Seymour with Bradley Garon, grandson, age 2. THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 59