metro
Classic
Gesture
As Big As
Life
Alfred Taubman's
plans for his
funeral befitted
his lifestyle.
Ronelle Grier
Contributing Writer
A
lfred "Al" Taubman's death
was commemorated in a style
befitting his life.
More than 1,500 friends, colleagues
and family members attended his
funeral at Congregation Shaarey Zedek
in Southfield.
Eulogies were delivered by an illus-
trious group of speakers that included
Gov. Rick Snyder.
And the University of Michigan
marching band paid a shivah call befit-
ting one of the university's most gener-
ous benefactors: a rousing rendition of
"Hail to the Victors" that reverberated
beyond the walls of the Townsend Hotel
and into the streets of Birmingham.
These impressive gestures were a
reflection of the expansive personality,
impressive business achievements, and
extraordinary generosity of a legendary
businessman and remarkable philan-
thropist who touched lives all over the
world.
In his remarks, Snyder described
Taubman as a "visionary," not only in
terms of what he could build but also
in terms of what he could give. Snyder
recalled seeing Taubman at U-M foot-
ball games, where he would gladly turn
his attention away from the game to
discuss the medical research he was so
passionate about.
"It was never about him, and it was
never about just today:' said Snyder. At
91, he was still looking toward the future."
Other speakers at the funeral,
which took place April 21, included
Taubman's sons, Robert "Bobby" and
William "Billy;" his daughter, Gayle
Taubman Kalisman; stepdaughter,
Tiffany Rounick Dubin; close friend
and fellow retail magnate Les Wexner
(The Limited, Victoria's Secret); former
U-M President Mary Sue Coleman; and
Rabbi Joseph Krakoff.
His sons, whom Taubman always
referred to as "his greatest achieve-
16 April 30 • 2015
Taubman provided all
windows for Bloomfield
Frank Lloyd Wright home.
I
ment," along with his daugh-
ter, Gayle, described him as
a "giant man with a com-
manding presence" who had
a genius for seeing things in
a different way, a man who
lived the proverbial American
dream. He led an active life
until his death, always plan-
ning the next project or
adventure.
"He was looking forward to things he
planned to do:' said Taubman family
spokesperson Christopher Tennyson.
"His life was in full swing:'
Taubman took a hands-on approach
in all his endeavors, and planning for
his eventual demise was no exception.
According to David Techner, director
of the Ira Kaufman Chapel, Taubman
believed it was his duty as the family
patriarch to make his wishes known
and to ensure every detail would be
carried out according to plan. This
included purchasing a circular group of
plots in Clover Hill Park Cemetery in
Birmingham, where several of his old
friends and community leaders, such as
Max Fisher, are also buried.
"It was typical of everything he
did — thoughtfully planned out:' said
Techner, "and he did it with a sense of
reality and a smile on his face. It gave
him great comfort to know his family
would be [buried] together and that he
would be near friends:'
414.1.8 ftemersimmoirrowl.
The Taubman family monument
designed by Alfred Taubman. The
Max Fisher family monument is in
the left background.
Lynne Konstantin
Arts & Life Editor
M
The pre-planning Taubman had
done with his family was especially
important because his sudden death
from a heart attack on Friday night,
April 17, left little time to plan for
the funeral. After meeting with the
family the Sunday before the funeral,
employees from Bloomfield Hills florist
Fleurdetroit worked nonstop to prepare
the Shaarey Zedek sanctuary for the
service. The family contacted a repre-
sentative from the U-M marching band,
who gladly arranged for band members
to perform a fitting musical tribute at
the shivah.
Taubman had also designed the stone
monument that stands in the center
of his family's section in the cemetery,
a simple cylindrical design, with no
embellishment except the Taubman
name engraved on the base and a Star
of David at the top.
"He was intimately involved in the
design of this monument:' said Techner.
"It was a way of declaring his pride in
being Jewish."
Speaking at the funeral service,
Krakoff said Taubman woke up every
day with the goal of profoundly
enhancing peoples' lives and chang-
ing the world for the better. He praised
Taubman for demonstrating great gen-
erosity to individuals and organizations
without expecting anything in return.
"Al Taubman saw the world in high-
definition:' Krakoff said in his eulogy.
In addition to the large number of
people who attended the funeral, more
than 2,300 people in 20 countries have
watched the service online via the
Kaufman website, and the website page
containing information on Taubman's
death has been visited more than
16,000 times.
"The family has been deeply moved
by the outpouring of support from the
community:' said Tennyson, adding
that Taubman would have been pleased
with the commemoration he received.
"He was surrounded by everything that
was important to him — his family, his
friends and his community:'
❑
elvin Maxwell Smith, a Detroit pub-
lic school teacher earning $7 a day
in 1930s Detroit, dreamed of living
in a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Smith — whose last name was changed from
Smiefsky when his Jewish Lithuanian par-
ents immigrated to the U.S., and nicknamed
Smithy by his wife-to-be, Sara Stein, whom
he met when they both taught Sunday school
at Congregation B'nai Moshe — spent his life
working toward that end.
He saved every penny he could, became his
own contractor and hired workers willing to
work for bare minimum plus the opportunity
to build a Wright house.
In 1950, the Wright-designed house in the
Lone Pine Estates area of Bloomfield Hills
was nearly complete — minus windows, a
highlight of any Frank Lloyd Wright structure,
which could easily run $5,000.
In Building a Dream: The Sara Smith Story,
author Kathryn Watterson writes that in 1950,
a desperate Smithy was down to his last $500.
At the same time, a young real-estate devel-
oper and Frank Lloyd Wright fan was working
on a project in Pontiac when he heard about
Smithy. Visiting the site, he knocked on the
door and introduced himself as Al Taubman.
Smithy gave the enthusiast a full tour, includ-
ing the spaces where floor-to-ceiling windows
and trademark clerestory windows should be.
The next morning, men from the Pittsburgh
Plate Glass Company arrived at the house to
take measurements. A few days later, all the
glass had been installed. Taubman sent Smithy
an invoice for $500.
"I didn't have a lot of money at the time,
so this was not something I took on lightly:'
Taubman recalled in DBusiness. "Clearly, the
house wouldn't last through the winter. I felt
compelled to do something because it was a
fantastic structure and the couple had put a
tremendous amount of work into it."
In 1951, Wright himself visited the com-
pleted home, just 1,800 square feet. He called
it his "little gem:'
❑
Frank Lloyd Wright's "little gem" in
Bloomfield Hills