Metro
BUTZEL AWARD WINNER
Jackier Of All Trades
Larry Jackier recalls impetus for a life of Jewish service.
Stanley Frankel presents his lifelong friend Larry Jackier with Federation's top honor, the Butzel award.
Bill Carroll
Special to the Jewish News
A
ttorney Larry Jackier of West
Bloomfield remembers visit-
ing the infamous Dachau
Concentration Camp near Munich,
Germany, while on a European trip dur-
ing his junior year at the University of
Michigan.
"It was bad enough to walk the same
grounds where the Nazis exterminated
thousands of my fellow Jews, but the
worst was in the little museum on the
way out:' he said. "That's where I saw, for
the first time, lampshades made from
human skin and soap made from human
bodies, then a sign that read, 'Never
Again'. The whole experience really got
to me. Immediately, I wrote a letter to my
parents, saying, 'now I fully understand
the importance of being Jewish, and of
"I guess you can call it family osmosis
that's how I acquired my strong
interest in Jewish causes and local
involvement."
- Larry Jackier
being strongly involved in the Jewish
community."
That started Jackier on the road to a
lifetime of distinguished community
service that reached a significant mile-
stone Sunday night when he received
the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit's highest honor, the Fred M.
Butzel Memorial Award. It's the 57th
annual award presented in memory of
Butzel, a noted Detroit attorney, corn-
munity leader and philanthropist. The
Federation points out the award is
"deigned to honor someone who charac-
terizes the highest ideals of Jewish com-
munal leadership ... an individual who
epitomizes the devotion and commit-
ment unique to our Jewish community."
That's a perfect description of Jackier,
66, an attorney for 40 years, whose
resume of communal and philanthropic
activities fills an entire page — single-
spaced, and whose Bloomfield Hills law
office walls and tables (the Jackier Gould
firm) are lined with honor certificates,
plaques, photos and other mementoes of
his community service.
Family Inspiration
He credits his father, Joseph Jackier, the
late attorney and philanthropist, his
mother, Edythe, 91, of West Bloomfield,
a long-time Jewish community leader,
and his good friend, Stanley Frankel of
Bloomfield Hills, with instilling in him
the fervor for community service. All
three of them preceded Larry Jackier as
Butzel Award recipients.
"I guess you can call it family osmosis
— that's how I acquired my strong inter-
est in Jewish causes and local involve-
ment," Jackier explained. "I observed
Jackier on page A20
October 16 • 2008
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