Lasting
LiegatC

HARRY KIRS BAUM
StaffWriter

David Page
is an easy
choice
for the
Fred M
Butzel
Memorial
Award
because
of his
though tf ul
leadership
and decisive
action.

•

9/24
1999

6 Detroit Jewish News

e might not be as
well known to the
Jewish community
as some of his pre-
decessors — Max
Fisher, Jane Sherman,
Judge Avern Cohn, for
example — but David
Page, who will
receive this year's
top communal
award, is a man
whose quiet leader-
ship and influence will be felt for gen-
erations to come.
"He is not a bystander," said Penny
Blumenstein, president of the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.
"There are many people deserving of
this award. This was the first year
David was eligible, and it was an easy
choice."
For his work on behalf of the
Jewish and secular communities, Page
will receive Federation's highest honor,
the Fred M. Butzel Memorial Award.
It will be presented at Federation's
73rd annual meeting on Tuesday,
Sept. 28, at Yeshivat Akiva.
The annual award recognizes a per-
son "who best exemplifies the ideals of
Jewish leadership, devotion to the
Jewish people and service to the com-
munity at large."
The setting will mark the first com-
bined annual meeting of Federation
and its real estate/banking arm, the
United Jewish Foundation (see related
story, page 10).
As Federation's president from
1992-1995, Page displayed a no-non-
sense leadership style that helped
restructure the not-for-profit organiza-
tion into a streamlined, effective, busi-
ness-like operation. And as vice chair

mid-19th century furniture that has
of the Detroit Medical Center's board,
spilled over from his antique collec-
he was at ground zero during the
tion at home in Bloomfield Hills.
DMC purchase of Sinai Hospital in
Page was born in Detroit, but
1997. Whether involved as a board
raised
in Youngstown, Ohio. His
director of United Way Community
Services or the Barbara Ann Karmanos father was a commercial real estate
broker and his mother was a school-
Cancer Institute, David Page, 66, has
teacher. Although no one in his family
been involved in the Detroit commu-
was a lawyer, he loved debate in
nity for decades.
school and loved the logical applica-
Often working behind the scenes,
tions of law.
he doesn't just delegate his authority.
Page received a scholarship to
He's very much hands-on and able to
Dartmouth, followed
get the most out of the people
by a scholarship to
Right:
Federation's
he works with. Those who know
Harvard Law School,
Butzel Award winner
him say when Page is in charge
where
he graduated
for 1999, David Page.
of something, it works.
with
high
honors in
With a driving need to see a
1958.
He
settled
in
Detroit
for good a
project through, Page says he feels
year
later,
following
his
family
who
equally comfortable as follower or
moved
back
in
1955.
leader. Many boards of Detroit-area
When Page joined Honigman,
organizations have benefited from his
expertise. And friends and family con- Miller, Schwartz and Cohn, he noted
that Allen E. Schwartz was already
sider him to be a mentor.
active in the Jewish community.
"He is a great leader with what I
When Avern Cohn came aboard in
call a moral force. He leads quietly,
1961, the atmosphere for community
without fanfare, and he gets the job
service
"was in the air that I
done leading by example in the corn-
breathed,"
Page said. Schwartz and
munity," said Rabbi Daniel Syme of
Temple Beth El, where Page is a mem- Cohn became Federation presidents.
Page followed their lead.
ber and past president. "It's one of the
First, he got involved in the attor-
things that I have always admired
neys'
section of Federation's Annual
about him. He doesn't seek the lime-
Campaign
(formerly the Allied Jewish
light. He is content to do good for
Campaign),
and was a founder of the
good's sake."
Detroit Men's ORT chapter.
Through the years, Page has devel-
The Lawyer
oped an effective leadership style that
works for him. The savvy corporate
Though he's tremendously active in
lawyer's soft, relaxed voice belies well-
the community, Page also is a family
honed instincts that refuse to allow
man and a highly successful corporate
him to go into something without
attorney. He's a partner at Honigman,
being prepared.
Miller, Schwartz and Cohn, where he's
"David will never be caught off
practiced for 41 years. His corner
guard, because he has examined and
office high above downtown Detroit
thought of every possible permutation
reflects both aspects of his life.
and combination before he goes into
Aside from his telephone, family
meeting," said Peter Alter, a law part-
photos, computer and leather chair,
Page's office is filled with early- to
LIVING LEGACY on page 10

