A Philanthropic Pillar MEDICAL OUTREACH CPO co, :2r, 005 07:2 0 OM DO ac o 0 ci 0 r., 7- on Rendering of the Sarah Wetsman Davidson Tower at Hadassah Hospital outside Jerusalem. M iII Sarah "Sal" Wetsman Davidson Generation To Generation Davidsons' $75 million Hadassah gift continues family tradition. Keri Guten Cohen Story Development Editor H adassah has been a fam- ily tradition for William Davidson. His mother, Sarah "Sal" Wetsman, helped organize Detroit Hadassah after founder Henrietta Szold visited her family home in 1916. And his grandfather, Joseph Wetsman, was among donors who gave land on Mt. Scopus in Jerusalem, where Hadassah's first hospital was built. In 2007, Bill and Karen Davidson of Bloomfield Hills carried on the tradition when they gave $75 million to help build a new 14-story Hadassah Medical Center inpatient tower at the hospital in Ein Kerem, a western suburb of Jerusalem. The Sarah Wetsman Davidson Tower, expected to be completed in 2012 in time for Hadassah's centennial, will house 500 beds, 20 operating rooms, 50 inten- sive-care beds and facilities for medical research. "Mr. Davidson was proud to be the third generation in his family to support Hadassah's goals and achievements, and we are proud to be forever linked to his life and his memory:' Nancy Falchuk, national Hadassah president, said in a statement after Bill Davidson's death on March 13. "He understood the importance of excel- lent medical care in Israel for people of all faiths, regardless of their nationality, religion or political beliefs. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Davidson's family, the entire Detroit community and all others who were lucky enough to be affected by his loyalty, gener- osity and tenacity." Dr. Shlomo Mor-Yosef, director-general of Hadassah Medical Organization, added, "Bill Davidson's generosity, leadership and close involvement in the Sarah Wetsman Davidson Tower will dramatically enhance medical care in Israel and strengthen Jerusalem for the coming generations." Both Falchuk and Mor-Yosef attended Davidson's funeral Tuesday at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield. "Mr. D's generosity and commitment to Jewish philanthropies is legendary; but when he and his wife, Karen, announced the $75 million naming gift to the new Hadassah Hospital inpatient tower in Jerusalem, it was a singular act of devo- tion to family and connection to his past:' said Judi Schram, immediate past-presi- dent of Greater Detroit Hadassah. "The Sarah Wetsman Davidson Tower will stand as an enduring legacy: l'dor v'dor (genera- tion to generation)." "There's also another great family con- Early Family History L Ike many Jews in America, William Davidson has an Eastern European heritage. His father, Ralph Davidson, was born in East Prussia and moved to the United States in 1887. Bill's mother, Sarah "Sal" Wetsman, was born in Iowa to parents from Volhynia, a province in western Ukraine. Both sides of his family have busi- ness in their backgrounds. Bill Davidson's paternal grand- parents, Louis and Sarah Davidson, A24 ts:larch 19 =, 2009 initially settled their family in Alpena, but six years later moved to Hillman, a small northern Michigan town where they opened Davidson's Department Store. When the store was devastated by fire in 1915, the family moved to Detroit, where son Ralph, his brother- in-law and cousins began the Frank & Davidson Company, a wholesale gro- cery business. Sal Wetsman's father, Joseph, began his American life in 1886 as a ped- dler, then began a wholesale peddlers' supply business in Oskaloosa, Iowa. He later bought and sold scrap. When Joseph and Bessie Wetsman moved to Detroit in 1904, Joseph turned to real estate investing and was very suc- cessful. Later, he owned the popular Avalon, Linwood and Oriole movie theaters in Detroit's heavily Jewish Linwood neighborhood. Bill worked at the theaters when he was a teen. The Wetsmans and Davidsons were active members of Congregation Shaarey Zedek. Joseph Wetsman served as a synagogue president from 1920-1922 and was among those who founded Clover Hill Park Cemetery in Birmingham in 1917. Sal Wetsman and Ralph Davidson married in 1920. They had two chil- dren, Bill and Dorothy. El Sources: Biographer Phillip Applebaum, author of "The Wetsmans" and Michigan Jewish History Vol. 40 of the Michigan Jewish Historical Society.