metro >> on the cover

Eugene Applebaum's generous role leads to Butzel Award.

Harry Kirsbaum I JN Contributing Writer

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on his first trip to summer camp. The boy's
family has limited means, but through a
scholarship he is able to go to Fresh Air
Society Camp for just three dollars a week.
As they approach the JCC, the boy sees
the name Aaron DeRoy written upon the
building.
"Who is Aaron DeRoy?" he asks his
mother.
"Mr. DeRoy was a very generous per-
son who gave back to the community,"
she tells him.
The experience has a profound impact,
one he will never forget. The boy's name is
Eugene Applebaum and, in that moment, he
decides that one day he will help others, just
as he himself has been helped with the pre-
cious opportunity to go to camp.
Decades later, Applebaum, then 76, will
endow a village at the same camp, now
known as Tamarack Camps, which contin-
ues to provide scholarships to thousands of
children who otherwise would not have the
chance to spend a summer there. Visiting
camp in Ortonville one day, he sees a young
boy wearing a T-shirt bearing the words
Applebaum Village. The experience is a pow-
erful, emotional reminder of how far he has
come, and of the pledge he has kept to help
others.
As a Jewish person, we are instructed
by the Torah to give tzedakah to the Jewish
people, and I feel a great responsibility to do
this," he said. "I want to share the success I've
had with the Jewish people:'

Making Of A Leader

Joseph and Minnie Applebaum provided
their son with a strong, lasting Jewish foun-
dation. His father was an ardent Zionist,
while his mother shared her deep religious
beliefs and values. He remembers being
taken to Dexter Avenue to see Israeli Prime
Minister David Ben-Gurion pass on his way
through the city, a memorable event in a life
of deep commitment to the Jewish state.
While the neighborhood was not finan-
cially affluent, Applebaum grew up sur-
rounded by a number of spirited, fun-loving
Jewish kids, many of whom would later
become business associates and leaders of
the community. Among these, he credits
David Hermelin, a close friend from kinder-
garten, with being an influential force in his
life as well as many others.
Close friend Sidney Forbes of Bloomfield
Hills felt Applebaum's influence.
As you go through life, there is always a
special person that makes everybody feel
good, and who sets the mood and tone for

Drug Store News' Regional Chain of the
Year multiple times, and Applebaum him-
self was acknowledged as a CEO of the
Year by Financial World Magazine.
After 35 years running one of the larg-
est and most successful drugstore chains
in the region, Applebaum sold the business
to national pharmacy retailer, CVS. He
then focused his energy on heading Arbor
Investments Group, a real estate and finan-
cial investment company.
He also was able to devote himself to the
work that has motivated him since his days
as a boy; helping his fellow Jews and others
through philanthropy.

In The Community

Eugene and Marcia Applebaum

anything that is going on:' he said. "Gene has
always been that way. He's always had a great
nature and smile on his face.
"The word I would use is integrity. People
trust him; they believe in him. And he's
always been dedicated to wanting to help.
When he's been in a position to do it, he's
always given, and he's done a tremendous
number of good things," Forbes said.
"He's always been committed to
Federation, to Israel, to the health system,
to education. He's just been a good person, a
good man — he stands for all the good that
we look up to and reach for:'

Family Values

Applebaum met and married his wife,
Marcia, in 1961, and since then they have
been together for more than five decades.
She recounts that, from the very beginning,
he has had the desire to help others.
"He has a big heart; she says, "and he's
always been there for people; he always tries
to make a difference:'
The Applebaums have two daughters, Lisa,
who lives in New York City, and Pamela of
Bloomfield Hills, and four grandchildren.
Marcia says it has been important to expose
their children to the values that have guided
their lives.
Despite being extraordinarily focused on
his work, he was able to share his passion
and engagement with his daughters. Both
Lisa and Pamela fondly remember weekend
outings to visit his drugstores or scout future
prospects, which he always managed to

make fun as well as educational. They also
recall a childhood filled with spirited dinner-
table discussions and warm celebrations dur-
ing the Jewish holidays.
"He is a phenomenal role model; Pamela
said. "He always felt very strongly about tak-
ing care of the generation before you, and he
made sure we were all involved in caring for
both his and our mother's parents. Caring for
family was always really important to him
and that transfers to the whole community at
large. You can't just take care of yourself; you
have to take care of others:'
Lisa agreed.
"One of the most important things he's
taught us is to give back, and how much of a
difference it can make in the lives of so many
people to help them through a crisis or just
to fulfill their dreams as you've been able to
fulfill yours," she said. "That's what I carry
around with me and what I've learned from
my father:'

Life Of Tikkun Olam

Applebaum graduated from the Wayne
State University College of Pharmacy and
Health Sciences and soon opened his first
pharmacy in Dearborn — Civic Drugs.
Through hard work, determination and
a visionary growth strategy, he rapidly
expanded the business and, in 1974, he
brought together six drugstores in Metro
Detroit to form Arbor Drugs Inc.
The growing drugstore chain was
known for its exceptional quality and
outstanding employees. Arbor was named

The Applebaums have been longstanding
pillars of the local Jewish community and
major donors to Federation; Eugene serves
on its board.
In 1999, the Applebaums announced
the largest capital gift up to that time in
Metro Detroit's Jewish community history.
The gift of at least $5 million, through
Federation's Millennium Campaign,
expanded and beautified the 195-acre
Eugene and Marcia Applebaum Jewish
Community Campus in West Bloomfield.
One of the most special endowments he
has created is Tamarack Camps' Applebaum
Village, an enduring tribute to the summer
camp that meant so much to him as a child.
Additionally, he is a co-founder of
the Applebaum-Hermelin-Tauber Child
Development Center in Yavne, Israel; formed
the Eugene and Marcia Applebaum Beth
Hayeled Building and Jewish Parenting
Center at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in
Southfield; and established the Eugene and
Marcia Applebaum Professorial Chair at the
Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. He is
a member of the Taubman Institute Advisory
Board and also serves as honorary chair of
the Detroit Jewish News Foundation.
"The Jewish News plays a very important
role because it keeps us in touch with what
is happening locally as well as what is hap-
pening around the country and around the
world," Applebaum said. "This will become
our history in the years ahead and for future
generations:'
Arthur Horwitz, JN publisher/executive
editor, said, "Gene Applebaum has been part
of the glue that has kept the Detroit Jewish
community connected to its past, its future
and the larger community that we inhabit.
Gene has been a committed and passionate
advocate of our independence, of our integ-
rity and of the role we play and continue to
play in telling the story of our community

Give Back on page 16

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September 5 • 2013

Jh