“ What you gave will not be

U-M and through the Association
for Jewish Studies.
“If someone asked me to invent
a major donor who understands
fully what we are trying to
accomplish for Jewish education,
I would invent Bill Berman,” Dr.
Donald Sylvan, former JESNA
president, said in a previous JN
story, speaking about Bill’s dedi-
cation to education.
“What he gives is so much
more than money; he is fighting
along with us. Bill believes in
what we do so completely. He is
a booster, a problem solver and
participant extraordinaire.”

EVOLUTION OF
BILL BERMAN
Bill Berman was born in Detroit
in 1917, one of four children of
Julius and Esther Anna Berman.
With a first name like Mandell,
a person needed to have a nick-
name and his became “Billy,”
after an Uncle Bill who died
around the time he was born.
Berman attended Doty
Elementary, Hutchins Inter-
mediate and Central High School,

forgotten. A shining example of

kindness and generosity, sharing

your insight and inspiring us all.

Thank you for the Berman Center

for the Performing Arts, a beautiful

legacy that we will cherish and honor.

We remember you. ”

— JCC/The Berman Center for the Performing Arts

graduating in 1936.
“My father came from old
Russia and met my mother here;
she was born in Toledo,” Bill told
the late Bill Carroll for a previ-
ous JN story. “He did well in real
estate, and we had a maid and
a chauffeur living in our large
house. They didn’t get paid any-
thing, but they got free room and
board.
“My father also ran the old

Eckert and Becker Brewery. Then
came the 1929 stock market
crash and he went bankrupt. But
he picked up the pieces, and my
brother, two sisters and I were
able to attend college.”
Berman obtained two degrees
from Harvard: a BA degree,
magna cum laude, and an MBA
from Harvard’s Business School.
“I lived next door to John F.
Kennedy in Cambridge, but only

really knew him enough to say
‘hello’ every day,” Bill had said.
“When I graduated, World
War II was well under way, and I
received a letter from the govern-
ment informing me I could enter
the Navy as an ensign, so I spent
four years there as an officer.”
He became an expert in under-
water ordnance and mines by
taking training at Dartmouth
University and in Maryland and

Florida.
“I spent 48 months in the Navy,
dodging Japanese Zeroes and
Kamikaze pilots,” he told reporter
Carroll. “I even landed with the
Marines on Okinawa, which was
one of the bloodiest battles in the
Pacific [12,513 American deaths
over 82 days].
“I thought, ‘I’m a Jewish naval
officer. What the heck am I
doing here on the beach with the
Marines.’
“One night in the rain and
cold, I ended up sleeping right
next to a 500-pound bomb that
didn’t detonate. I woke up staring
at the bomb and I figured I must
be mishugah (crazy).”
The post-war building busi-
ness was tame by comparison as
Berman and his brother-in-law,
Bert L. Smokler, built more than
20,000 homes and condomini-
ums in Michigan alone between
1946-1975.
Many of the homes were in
Royal Oak, Clawson and metro
Washington, D.C., then their
building empire spread to west-
ern Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota

continued on page 12

December 29 • 2016

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