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“The city of Detroit and Wayne State University
had no greater champion than Eugene
Applebaum; nor had I a greater friend.”

COURTESY ARBOR INVESTMENTS GROUP

— DR. IRVIN REID, WSU PRESIDENT EMERITUS

COURTESY ARBOR INVESTMENTS GROUP

COURTESY LEONARD N. SIMONS JEWISH COMMUNITY ARCHIVES

COURTESY ARBOR INVESTMENTS GROUP

Irvin Reid.”
Reid, president emeritus, now holds the
Eugene Applebaum Chair in Community
Engagement at WSU.
“The city of Detroit and Wayne State
University had no greater champion than
Eugene Applebaum; nor had I a greater
friend,” Reid told the JN. “I learned so much
from him, both about the university that I
had come to lead and about the city that
was his home. Throughout his lifetime, he
never lost the love of his alma mater or his
home city.
“He wanted most of all for the univer-
sity to do whatever was
possible to make Detroit a
For those wishing to great place for everyone. He
honor the memory of loved this city. Enabling the
Eugene Applebaum: education of young people
of the university and the city
Beaumont Health Foundation will stand out among his
Eugene Applebaum Nursing Education and greatest legacies. He wanted
Patient Care Fund-Beaumont Hospital all to come here to the cam-
P.O. Box 5802 pus and enjoy its assets,
Troy, MI 48007-5802 many of which he created.
“The university’s Forum
(248) 551-5330
beaumont.org/giving On Contemporary Issues
In Society (FOCIS) lecture
Brigham and Women’s Hospital series grew out of his vision
that the university needed
Marcia and Eugene Applebaum Fund
to bring people together in
in support of the Partners
dialogue. He wanted influ-
Multiple Sclerosis Center
ential people to come to the
75 Francis St. university so the students
Boston, MA 02115 and citizens of the city
(617) 732-5500 could be engaged with their
tinyurl.com/https-giving-brighamwomens ideas. And he loved coming
to meet with them ahead of
Mayo Clinic-Department their lectures and pepper
of Development them with questions.”
Marcia and Eugene Applebaum Endowed
In the Jewish commu-
Fund for Research Related nity, Applebaum was able
to Multiple Sclerosis to fulfill a childhood self-
200 First St. SW prophecy.
One day in 1947, he was
Rochester, MN 55905
(617) 424-4321 riding down Woodward
philanthropy.mayoclinic.org/donateMC Avenue with his mother
and noticed Aaron DeRoy’s
Tamarack Camps name on the Jewish
Eugene Applebaum Tamarack Scholarship Community Center. He
Fund for Applebaum Village asked his mother, “Why is
6735 Telegraph Road, #380 his name on the building?”
Bloomfi eld Hills, MI 48301 She explained Mr. DeRoy
was a generous Jewish man
(248) 952-9110
who gave back to his com-
tamarackcamps.com/tributes
munity. He said, “Someday
I will be a nice Jewish man
Wayne State University who will give to my com-
Eugene Applebaum College munity.”
of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
Robert Aronson, for-
5475 Woodward Ave. mer CEO of the Jewish
Detroit, MI 48202 Federation and current
cardinal.wayne.edu/wsugiving/give.cfm senior development adviser,
marvels at how Applebaum
set his sights so young on
the future.
“What a big thinker he was,” said
Aronson, who became a close friend to
Applebaum and considered him a mentor.
“His first thought was always giving back.”
Aronson, also philanthropic adviser to
the family, secured the gift in 1999 from
Eugene and Marcia Applebaum that

CLOCKWISE, TOP LEFT: Eugene Applebaum with Alfred Taubman and Sidney Forbes. David Hermelin and
Applebaum, circa 1980s. Applebaum and Dr. Irvin Reid, then WSU President. Applebaum with Robert Aronson.

became the largest capital gift in the his-
tory of the Jewish community through
Federation’s Millennium Campaign for
Detroit’s Jewish Future. The donation
expanded and beautified the 195-acre
West Bloomfield Jewish Community
Campus, renamed after the Applebaums.
A lifetime member of the Federation
Board of Governors, Applebaum received
Federation’s highest honor, the Fred M.
Butzel Award, in 2013.
He also created the Eugene and Marcia
Applebaum Beth Hayeled Building and
Jewish Parenting Center at Congregation
Shaarey Zedek in Southfield. He was a
member of the Taubman Institute Advisory
Board and served as an honorary chair of
the Foundations’ Board of Advisers for the
Detroit Jewish News Foundation.
“Gene was a special friend of the Jewish
News and one of my guiding lights in the
creation of the independent, nonprofit
Detroit Jewish News Foundation,” said

Arthur Horwitz, JN publisher and presi-
dent, DJN Foundation. “He retained a
deep appreciation for the vision and ser-
vice of community leaders who preceded
him and sought to honor and build upon
their efforts.
“He embraced and defended the role
of the Jewish News as a credible, indepen-
dent source of information and valued its
role in connecting myriad segments of
the community to each other. I will miss
his wise advice, sharp wit and unwaver-
ing encouragement.”

SUPPORTING HEALTHCARE

Eugene Applebaum was diagnosed with
multiple sclerosis at age 50 and battled
the disease with an unstoppable positive
attitude, amazing sense of humor, and the
love and support of family and friends for
31 years.
Already active in the field of healthcare,
after his diagnosis he and Marcia chan-

continued on page 16

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December 21 • 2017

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