obituaries
Obituaries from page 80
Art Modell, Ex-owner Of NFL's Browns,
Ravens, Dies
Italian Interfaith Leader
Carlo Maria Martini Dies
Baltimore (JTA)
Rome (JTA)
hour.
After serving in the U.S. Army Air Corps during
rt Modell, former owner of the NFIls
World War II, he returned to New York and rightly
Baltimore Ravens and the Cleveland
identified the nascent television industry as a strong
Browns, has died.
growth market. He eventually moved from TV pro-
The 87-year-old Modell, a pioneer of the National
duction to advertising.
Football League's partnership with televi-
In 1960, while working at a Madison
sion networks, died Sept. 6, 2012, of natural
Avenue advertising agency, the avid sports
causes at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
fan learned that the Cleveland Browns were
Modell was well-known for his phil-
for sale. Modell, then 35, jumped at the
anthropic activities and had been a sup-
opportunity. He put down $3.93 million for
porter of the Associated: Jewish Community
the team and moved to Cleveland.
Federation of Baltimore. He also chaired a
He was soon negotiating contracts for the
$100 million drive to build a cardiovascular
NFL with television networks — serving as
tower for the Johns Hopkins Heart Institute.
head of the NFEs television committee for
Art Mo dell, c.
He and his wife, Patricia, donated $3.5 mil-
31 years — and pushed for the creation of
1980
lion to renovate the city's Lyric Opera House,
Monday Night Football.
which is now named for its benefactors.
In 1996, Modell broke the heart of Browns fans by
"He really cared and cared deeply whether for
moving his team to Baltimore, changing its name to
Jews, Catholics or the plight of cities:" Marc Terrill,
the Ravens.
president of the Associated, told JTA. "He simply
The city of Cleveland went to court to block the
cared about people, and his actions revealed his
move. The case ended with a $12 million settlement
admirable character and he'll be missed:"
from Modell, including the promise that Modell
Modell grew up in an Orthodox neighborhood of
would allow a new team to play in Cleveland with
Brooklyn, N.Y., in the 1920s and 1930s as the son of
the Browns name and records.
an electronics dealer who lost everything in the 1929
In 1999, due to financial difficulties, Modell sold a
stock market crash. With his family destitute, Modell
minority interest in the Ravens to Steve Biscotti, who
dropped out of high school to work as an electrician's eventually bought the controlling interests in 2004.
helper at a New York shipyard, making 45 cents an
Patricia Modell died in October 2011 at 80. ❑
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82
September 20 2012
Obituaries
I
taly's Jewish leader-
ship mourned the death
of Cardinal Carlo Maria
Martini, 85, who was known in
part for forging closer rela-
tions between Christians
and Jews.
Martini, the archbishop
emeritus of Milan, died
Aug. 31, 2012, in that city
after a long battle with
Parkinson's disease.
"For us, he was a friend
and a point of reference
we could count on," Milan
Jewish community presi-
dent Walker Meghnagi said in a
statement. "He was a protagonist
of interreligious dialogue in our
city and a man of peace in the
Middle East."
He called on the city to name
a park located across from
the main Milan synagogue in
Martini's honor.
Renzo Gattegna, the president
of the Union of Italian Jewish
Communities, described Martini
as a "man of culture a "great
protagonist in interreligious dia-
logue" and "a friend, a guide and
a reference point."
In a speech in 2004,
Martini, a biblical
scholar with liberal
views on some social
issues, said Catholics
had to understand
Judaism in order to
understand their own
faith.
"It is vital for the
church not only to
understand the ancient
covenant [between God and the
Jewish people] which has endured
for centuries in order to launch a
fruitful dialogue, but also to deep-
en our own understanding of who
we are as the church:" he said.
Martini retired in 2002 and
moved to Jerusalem. He returned
to Milan in 2008 due to his failing
health.
❑