To Life!
GENERATIONS
Full Speed At 90
Marvin Danto's need to give keeps him going strong.
myself a religious man, I came
from a religious background.
Both my grandfathers were rab-
bis."
Leaving Wayne University 14
credits short of earning his engi-
neering degree, he was drafted
into the Army and spent four
years serving during World War
II, including 28 months overseas.
Moving up to captain, he recalls
with fondness organizing a
Christmas party for 350 children
evacuated to southwest England.
After the war, he launched his
career in furniture retailing in his
father-in-law's business.
Starting as an assistant
manager for the Detroit-based
Englander Furniture Shops,
he went on to become CEO
and chairman of the board of
the eight-store chain. Later, he
turned to developing a new
concept in marketing home fur-
nishings — the Michigan Design
Center.
Marvin and Betty Danto., ,'
Vivian Henoch
Special to the Jewish News
M
aking his entrance
into the West
Bloomfield health
care facility that bears his family
name, Marvin Danto cuts a dap-
per figure. What brings him out
on this chilly November after-
noon is a warm reception mark-
ing 10 years since the Marvin &
Betty Danto Family Health Care
Center opened its doors to serve
the frail and elderly in the com-
munity.
With the vitality of a man
decades younger than his 90
years, he strolls throtigh the
rehab wing on a tour of the 165-
bed facility.
Born and raised in Detroit,
he is an engineer by training, a
furniture retailing pioneer and
a philanthropist. As founder and
current chief executive officer
of the Michigan Design Center
in Troy and founder of Design
Center of the Americas in Dania,
Fla., Danto remains active in
business consulting and fund-
raising.
With Betty, his wife and part-
ner for almost 65 years, he shares
a multitude of interests and they
are benefactors for numerous
arts, educational, health and
charitable organizations.
Over the past year, the Dantos
have made major commitments
to Wayne State University's
Engineering Development Center
in Detroit and the Cardiovascular
Care Center at the University of
Michigan Health System.
With a $1 million gift to
the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit, the Dantos
recently established the Marvin
and Betty Danto Family Israel
Emergency Challenge Fund to
lead the community's fundrais-
ing effort to deliver humanitarian
aid to northern Israel during the
war last summer.
Love, Dedication
When asked what drives the cou-
ple's philanthropic choices, Danto
says, "I love Michigan. I love my
country. I'm a dedicated Jew."
"Though I don't consider
Champion For Seniors
Marvin and Betty Danto have
always had a special place in
their hearts for the elderly. Their
gift to name the Danto Center
jumpstarted an endowment
that for services provided by
Federation's ElderLink network
of agencies to help older adults
live as independently as possible.
Danto has served on the board
of Jewish Home and Aging
Services, and has been a member
of the Commission on Jewish
Eldercare Services (COJES) since
its inception in 1996.
Together, the Dantos have
endowed a Fresh Air Society
recreational fund for older adults,
and have provided a "Dress Up
for Yom Tov" holiday fund for
new clothes for indigent resi-
dents of Jewish facilities.
Recalling how well his mother,
Rose, was cared for at the former
Borman Hall, facility, Danto says,
"We felt the need to repay the
community in some part and
make it possible for others to
have a decent home."
"Marvin and Betty Danto are
caring and steadfast friends,
truly partners of Federation, as
well as numerous agencies and
organizations in our community,"
said Robert P. Aronson, CEO of
Federation. "Their vision and
generosity have been a spark
and inspiration for many of our
endeavors on behalf of those in
need.
"This year in particular, in
the face of unprecedented eco-
nomic hardship here at home
and in Israel, we are truly grate-
ful for their commitment to
the Campaign and to the Israel
Emergency Fund."
Lifetime Of Service
A recipient of the Federation's
Lifetime Achievement Award for
outstanding volunteer service,
Danto has held a number of lead-
ership roles on the Federation
board. To support the work of
Federation's Annual Campaign
in perpetuity, the Dantos cre-
ated a PACE (Perpetual Annual
Campaign Endowment) fund.
Marvin Danto has served on
boards and foundations that
JCC's 'Kids' Honored
At its annual meeting Nov. 16,
the Detroit-based Jewish Fund
awarded the 2006 Robert
Sosnick Award of Excellence
to the Jewish Community
Center's Kids All Together
Program.
Created with a Jewish
Fund grant in 1999, Kids All
Together integrates children
with special needs into the
JCC's summer camp and other
recreational and day care pro-
grams. Each summer, 70 chil-
dren with special needs have
a camp experience, alongside
1,300 other campers. Fifty
young people, primarily col-
lege students studying educa-
tion, are trained as inclusion
counselors.
Accepting the award
on behalf of the JCC of
include the American Craft
Council, Ringling Museum in
Florida, American Craft Museum
in New York, Cranbrook Art
Academy in Bloomfield Hills,
College for Creative Studies in
Detroit and the Detroit Institute
of Arts.
For many years, he and
Betty have supported a schol-
arship program that sends
talented indigent students to
the Interlochen Center for the
Arts. Additional organizations
the Dantos support include the
Gulfcoast Wonder and Image
Zone (G-Wiz), Kids in Distress,
Dance the Next Generation, the
Children's Psychiatric Center in
Miami and the new Danto Center
for the Sarasota Ballet of Florida.
The Dantos divide their
time between their homes in
Bloomfield Hills and Longboat
Key. They are the parents of three
and grandparents of five. 11
Vivian Henoch is associate direc-
tor for marketing and communica-
tions at the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit.
Metropolitan Detroit was its
president, Irwin Alterman, and
executive director, Mark Lit.
Also attending the meeting
were the Narens family — Ed
and Judith Narens and their
children, William and Lea,
James and Margo and Barbara,
supporters of the program
through a Millennium Fund
at the Jewish Federation.
Institutional fenders Charter
One Bank and the Skillman
Foundation also were on hand.
The meeting also included a
report from Jewish Fund Chair
Robert Naftaly on $3.9 million
in grants paid: $1.2 million to
assist the community's older
citizens, $1.4 million to help
people with disabilities or
other vulnerabilities and $1.3
million to Huron Valley-Sinai
and.Sinai-Grace hospitals.