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Southfield At 50

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Community Glue

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Jennifer Babby

Activist has helped build and shape Southfield.

Wireless Mr.: Manager

Robert A. Sklar

There's
a lot of
talk about
free
driving laws.
I don't have a
"Bluetooth°"
device and in
fact, I don't even know exactly
what it is. Tell me in terms I can
understand what Bluetooth is and
how do I get it.

Bluetooth is a type of
wireless technology that
llows devices such as
portable computers, cell phones and
other portable hand-held devices to
"talk" with each other and connect
with the Internet. At Wireless Toyz
we have the largest selection of
Bluetooth devices that will keep you
in touch with others and safe on the
road.

Aa

I recently damaged my cell
phone. I don't care about
the phone, but the contact
information I had inside was very
valuable. What can I do when I
get my next phone to protect this
information? Please don't tell me I
have to write it down in a book.

Not only don't you have to
write it down, but we can
,save your information for
you in one of several ways. We can
copy your phonebook to a disc, save
it on file at one of our stores or print
it out for you so you have a hard
copy. You can also purchase cell
phone insurance from Cellcare to
cover replacement, just in case.

Editor

F

lorence and Samuel Havis
moved to Southfield in 1967
and still live in the same house
on Harvard in the Beacon Square
subdivision. From the start, Sam became
involved in development of the then fast-
growing city.
An architect by profession, Sam over
the years served on the Zoning Board of
Appeals, the Planning Commission and
Building Authority, serving for a time as
chairman of each.
Sam Havis: All about doing
He served on the building commit-
tee for the Holocaust Memorial Center
been a mainstay in the Jewish commu-
in Farmington Hills. He continues to
nity, maintaining synagogue member-
serve on Southfield's Building Authority,
ships with and advising the leadership
the Southfield Public Library Building
of B'nai David, Beth Achim and Adat
Authority and the Hebrew Memorial
Shalom. B'nai David no longer is located
Chapel Board of Directors.
in Southfield and Beth Achim merged
As a result of his significant civic and
with Adat Shalom in Farmington Hills.
community contributions, Sam received
"Like anything my father has done
Southfield's first Citizen of the Year Award Alan said, "it's not about money for him;
in 2000.
it's not about the spotlight and it's not
"My father has never been interested
about filling a resume. My father has
in the spotlight and has never sought to
given to these institutions like he gives to
run for office, but certainly all those in
everything else he does: with time and
Southfield who have run for office have
with effort:'
come to know and rely on him for his
Sam says the Jewish community in
experience and knowledge — from city
Southfield has changed dramatically with
managers to city mayors to city council;'
a lot of Jewish residents moving out. "But
said his son, Alan, a Southfield attorney
there is still a strong Jewish presence
and Franklin resident.
anchored by the Orthodox community
Sam, 84, also has contributed by way
through Young Israel of Southfield and
of his architectural practice to various
the Conservative community through
building and religious institutions in
Shaarey Zedek;' he said.
Southfield and the surrounding areas,
Sam is quick to note that Yeshivat
including the former B'nai David on
Akiva is in the former Beth Achim build-
Southfield Road and the former United
ing and Aish HaTorah is in the former
Hebrew Schools on 12 Mile Road.
United Hebrew Schools building, which
Beyond his professional work, Sam has he was the original architect for.

Sam is a volunteer for Meals on Wheels
as well as being a Mason and a Shriner.
"I guess to summarize," Alan said,
"Sam is the glue that keeps a community
together. He's never sought the spotlight,
and he's never sought to make a name
for himself by the amount of money he's
contributed to this or to that. Sam is all
about doing and contributing. Southfield
would not be Southfield had it not been
for Sam Havis."

❑

Havis Profile

Sam Havis was born in Brezno,
Poland, in 1923. His family moved
to Windsor in 1929 and he grew up
in the Jewish community there;
his father was a tailor. The family
moved to Detroit in 1937. He grad-
uated from Detroit Cass Tech in
1941 and got a job as a draftsman.
He graduated from the University
of Michigan in 1951 as an
architect. He put himself through
college by washing dishes at his
fraternity. He married Florence
Danto in 1952 and they had
three children: Michael, Sharon
and Alan. Each went through the
Southfield Public Schools. The
Havises have four grandchildren.
Florence is a retired office man-
ager of Danto Furniture.
In 1958, Sam started the archi-
tectural firm Havis & Glovinsky,
which lasted nearly 40 years,
through 1997. The firm designed a
number of buildings in and around
Southfield. Sam continues to work
as consultant to construction
companies.

Nothing Stays The Same from page A20

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248.948.5000

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1369830

A26

April 24 • 2008

Washington Heights and all the other
high-toned names developers chose for
their new subdivisions.
The entire public school district
closed down for the High Holidays. The
synagogues relocated — Sharrey Zedek,
Beth Achim, a Young Israel on Lahser
Road. A sociologist at Wayne State
University in Detroit sized it all up and
decided that Southfield was really "a
Grosse Pointe for ethnics." She wasn't all
that wrong.
But nothing stays the same. The fac-

tors that led the Jewish community into
Southfield soon pushed it further out:
rising prosperity, the allure of the new,
concerns about public schools. The
movement of jobs into the high rises of
the Town Center and other suburban
areas had the effect of allowing people
to move outwards and still be within a
comfortable commute to work.
My father argued vigorously against
his shul moving out, but finally bowed
to the inevitable and he, too, left the
only house he ever built in 1996.

The Jewish community would never
be as geographically coherent again. It
now spreads over half a dozen suburbs
and at least as many school districts.
While a vigorous Orthodox community
remains in Southfield, the nexus of
Jewish institutional life continues its
inexorable march northwest to greener
fields.
But much was lost, and we seem to
lose it even faster as the years go by.

❑