soul

of blessed memory

believed in, going “undercover” for the
ADL, where his red hair and freckles
enabled him to pose as a non-Jew and
report back to the organization about
After Jon and Adelyn were married in
anti-Semitic meetings and activities. In
1946, they moved to Detroit in search
addition to campaigning door-to-door
of better job opportunities. They raised
for President Obama, he struck up con-
three daughters, whom Jon taught to
versations wherever he went, passion-
throw a football, to listen to others and
ately telling strangers why his candidate
to take pride in one’s work, down to the
deserved their votes. He possessed equal
very last detail.
measures of unbounded
“What gave him most
drive and limitless compas-
gratification was reaching
sion.
out to others, selflessly lis-
“He gave us so many
tening to and helping other
gifts
— how to connect with
people, seeing them over-
people
was one of the most
come their obstacles and
important,
” said his daugh-
succeed,” said his daughter
ter
Sue.
Karen.
As the family grew,
At 47, Jon started Jon
Jon
and Adelyn lovingly
Greenberg Associates,
welcomed
sons-in-law,
working from the basement
grandchildren
and great-
of his Southfield home.
grandchildren.
He formed
With Adelyn’s help and Jon’s Jonnard Greenberg
close
relationships
with
leadership, the company
his
grandchildren,
attend-
built a national reputation
ing their T-ball games and
with trade associations in a
offering
constant
encouragement, so
variety of industries that included shop-
much
that
grandson
Jeffrey described
ping malls, home improvements, office
him
as
an
“esteem
machine.
”
products and gifts. Today the company
“Poppy
taught
me
to
be
inclusive,
that
does business throughout the world, and
integrity
was
a
gift
you
give
yourself
and
its work is reflected in such iconic places
that family was paramount,” Jeffrey said.
as the Statue of Liberty, the Detroit
Jon loved to make others laugh and
Institute of Arts, Detroit Metropolitan
always
had a ready supply of jokes. He
Airport and even Mecca.
recognized
people everywhere he went
“Adelyn’s talent for the dramatic,
and
approached
them like an old friend,
paired with her business and pragmatic
even
when
years
had passed since their
side, complemented Jon’s energy, sense
last
meeting.
He
enjoyed
serving as a
of the customer and visionary ability to
catalyst,
bringing
people
together
to
see what was next in the retail world,”
make
an
idea
grow
from
inspiration
to
wrote Ken Nisch, current JGA chairman.
reality.
After
selling
the
business
to
his
“Much of what we take for granted —
employees in 1986, he remained excited
self-service, discount stores, shopping
about the company and continued to
malls, national brands of stores and
connect people he thought could benefit
shopping as entertainment came about
from its services. He mentored countless
through Jon’s efforts ... he created retail
family members in their personal and
as it had never existed in the past.”
professional lives.
He worked tirelessly for causes he

Retail Revolutionary

RONELLE GRIER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

J

onnard “Jon” Greenberg is consid-
ered by many to be the father of the
modern retail industry, revolutioniz-
ing the industry with his innovative, con-
sumer-based concepts. Jon, who lived in
West Bloomfield and Delray Beach, Fla.,
with his wife, Adelyn, died on Dec. 29,
2017. He was 92.
While his creativity and the success
of his company, JGA ( formerly called
Jon Greenberg Associates), were legend-
ary, Jon was renowned for his kindness,
compassion and genuine affection for
the people in his life — family, friends,
clients and colleagues. He was the con-
summate listener, treating everyone as if
they were the most important person in
the world.
“He was one of a kind,” said his daugh-
ter, Judy, speaking at the funeral service
officiated by Rabbi Shalom Kantor of
Congregation B’nai Moishe, where Jon
was an active member. “He taught us
how to repair relationships with love.”
Born in Toledo, Ohio, Jon, the oldest
of three children, learned the value of
hard work at a young age, carrying bar-
rels of pickles and bushels of apples in
his father’s grocery store. When he was
17 and already a gifted athlete, a pretty
15-year-old classmate named Adelyn
invited him to her birthday party, begin-
ning a love affair that lasted through his
dying day.
During World War II, he joined the
V-12 officers engineering unit of the
Navy, recruits chosen by the government
for their keen intellect. After the war, he
helped the University of Toledo develop
its first industrial engineering program,
of which he was the first graduate.

An Advertising Genius

C

harles “Chuck” Stone, 89, passed
away Dec. 22, 2017, following a
long struggle with Alzheimer’s
disease.
Born in Williamston, Mich., in 1928,
Chuck later moved with his family to
Detroit. He left Wayne State University
and joined the Simons-Michelson adver-
tising agency as an office boy and rapidly
moved up the ranks to production assis-
tant, proofreader, copywriter, account
executive and assistant to the president,
with an intervening two-year stint in the
U.S. Army during the Korean conflict.
In 1956, Chuck and Rudy Simons left
Simons-Michelson to found Stone &
Simons Advertising Inc. Stone & Simons
created notable ad campaigns for clients
such as City National Bank (The Talking
Bank), Perry Drug Stores (Ask Your

TV advertising award ( for
Brummel & Brown, a brand
the agency also named).
Perry Red Coat) and Detroit
Chuck served on numerous
Optometric Centers (DOC).
charitable boards and as
Though Rudy left the agency to
two-term president of the
focus on humanitarian causes,
Jewish Community Center
he and Chuck always remained
of Metropolitan Detroit and
close friends.
of Franklin Hills Country
In the early 1980s, the
Club.
agency created the package
Chuck married Barbara
design ( from Chuck’s original
“Bobbie” Mandell in 1949
pencil sketch) and the TV
and together they raised
ad campaign that launched
four children (nine grand-
Shedd’s Spread Country
Charles
Stone
children) until Bobbie’s
Crock and helped make it the
death in 2014.
world’s best-selling margarine
Charles Stone was
spread brand. Besides a host
interred at Adat Shalom
of local and regional adver-
Memorial Park next to his beloved
tising awards, Chuck’s agency won the
Barbara. He is survived by his children,
American Marketing Association’s cov-
Martha Stone and Kevin Murphy, Kathy
eted “Effie” Award ( for Country Crock)
Stone Levitt and Dr. Brian Levitt, Douglas
and Unilever’s highest international

“He knew how to dream and how to
make that dream real for everyone,” said
his granddaughter Elyssa.
Jon is survived by his beloved wife of
71 wonderful years, Adelyn Greenberg;
cherished children, Sue (Bruce) Luria,
Karen (Sid) Greenberg, Judy (Mel)
Litroff; dear sister and brother, Diana
Greene, and Mark (Sue) Greenberg;
sister-in-law, Reba (the late Harold)
Scheer; sisters-in-law, Blossom (the
late Morton) Schulak, Rosanne Shapiro
(the late Sy Weiss), Dolores Poneman
(the late Meyer Poneman and the late
Jeffrey Dunn); adored grandchildren,
Elyssa (Eyal) Dimant, BJ (Dana) Luria,
Catie (Jeff Gray) Luria, Ruthie (Michael)
Cisse, Jeff Basham, Keith Douglas,
Alena (Humberto) Diaz, Jonah Litroff;
adoring great-grandchildren, Boaz
Dimant, Shai Dimant, Joey Brooke
Luria, Owen Luria, Amanda Cisse,
Sonya Cisse, Olivia Cisse, Karson
Kanteena Diaz and Mayra Diaz.
He was the devoted son of the late
Esther and the late Henry Greenberg;
devoted son-in-law of the late Jeanette
and the late William Shapiro; brother-in-
law of the late Idele and the late Nathan
Greenberg, the late Marshall and the late
Deanne Shapiro, the late Daryl and the
late Usher Turin. He is also survived by a
world of dear cousins, nieces, nephews
and friends.
Interment was at Clover Hill Park
Cemetery. Contributions may be direct-
ed to the Anti-Defamation League, 605
Third Ave., New York, NY 10158, (212)
885-7700, www.adl.org; Hadassah,
Greater Detroit Chapter, 5030 Orchard
Lake Road, West Bloomfield, MI 48323,
(248) 683-5030, www.hadassah.org/
detroit; or Congregation B’nai Moshe,
6800 Drake Road, West Bloomfield, MI
48322, (248) 788-0600, www.bnaimoshe.
org. Arrangements by Ira Kaufman
Chapel. •

and Andrea Stone, and Ruth Stone
Gorman and Robert Gorman; grandchil-
dren, Joseph and Elias Murphy, Noah and
Kateryna Stone, Julia, Lily and Sydney
Gorman, and Gregory Levitt; sister-in-law
and brother-in-law, Susan and Kenneth
Lynn; other loving relatives and friends.
Mr. Stone was the adoring grandfather
of the late Alexander Levitt; the dear
brother of the late Joshua and the late
Eunice Stone, the late Edward and the
late Renee Stone, and the late Hermine
Stone Cotton and the late Jason Cotton.
Contributions may be made to the
Alzheimer’s Association-National
Chapter, P.O. Box 96011, Washington,
D.C. 20090-6011, www.alz.org; or
National Council of Jewish Women, All
Kids Playground Alex Levitt Memorial
Fund, 26400 Lahser Road, Suite 306,
Southfield, MI 48033, www.ncjwgds.org.
Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel. •

continued on page 48

jn

January 11 • 2018

47