MAY 20 • 2021 | 103

D

r. Dan G. Guyer, 
74, of Huntington 
Woods, died May 1, 
2021. 
Raised in Detroit, Dr. 
Guyer attended Mumford 
High School and graduated 
from Wayne State University 
Medical School in 1971. 
As a psychiatrist, he 
served in private practice 
in Grosse Pointe and 
previously served as chief 
of psychiatry at Henry Ford 
Cottage Hospital. He was 
a beloved teacher through 
the hospital and the Wayne 
State University School of 
Medicine. 
Dr. Guyer was a leader in 
many agencies and programs 
of the Jewish Federation 
of Metropolitan Detroit. 
He served as a member of 
local and national boards, 
including the Jewish 
Federations of North 
America. He was president 
of Jewish Home and Aging 
Services and co-chair on 
the Commission on Jewish 
Elder Care Services. He was 
also former chair of the 
Disabilities Workgroup of 
Jewish Federations of North 
America. He was a Wexner 
Fellow, as well as a president 
of Hillel Day School and a 
lay leader at Adat Shalom 
Synagogue.
Dr. Guyer received 
the Jewish Federation 
William Davidson Lifetime 
Achievement Award in 2020. 
At the ceremony last fall, Dr. 

Guyer said, “I look 
at our community 
and its leadership, 
and as I look at 
my children and 
grandchildren, 
the future seems 
to be in good 
hands. May our 
community go 
from strength to 
strength.” 
Mark Hauser, recipient 
of Federation’s 2012 Butzel 
Award, first met Guyer in 
the late 1970s and worked 
with him on UJA’s Young 
Leadership Cabinet and 
at the Jewish Fund, where 
Guyer chaired the health 
care subcommittee. 
“He was able to help my 
father-in-law, who after he 
sold his business, became 
very depressed, and Dan was 
just great with him and was 
able to turn him around so 
he could enjoy the rest of 
his life,” Hauser said. “His 
legacy was to never care 
about being in the limelight. 
A very humble person, and 
a person in whom others 
had confidence and looked 
up to.” 
Joyce Keller, former 
executive director of JARC, 
is a family friend of the 
Guyers. Their relationship 
was a personal one, and she 
spent many Jewish holidays 
with the Guyers, including 
some legendary seders.
“That’s really where I 
got to know Dan the best 

because he had such 
an incredible love 
of Judaism and his 
seders were like none 
other,” Keller said. 
“There were always 
lots of people from all 
walks of the Guyers’ 
life and it was very 
special to be a part 
of.” 
Keller said Dr. 
Guyer’s inclusiveness in 
those seders were reflective 
of his inclusiveness in 
general life. “He was a 
force,” Keller said. “He was 
somebody the community 
looked to for leadership.
“He was an amazing 
father who raised three 
unbelievable kids, who 
are so brilliant and 
accomplished; and it’s so 
much a reflection of the 
home they grew up in and 
the values they grew up with 
that he and Cheryl fostered,” 
Keller added. 
Dr. Guyer’s daughter 
Sara Guyer said her father 
was a model within the 
community and within 
his own family. “He had a 
very clear idea about the 
kind of man, husband, 
father, grandfather, friend, 
doctor and member of the 
community he wanted to 
be, and he dedicated his life 
from the time he was very 
young to fulfilling that very 
clear vision,” Guyer said. 
“He was unwavering 
in that sensibility and 

commitment. He loved his 
work, he loved to read, he 
loved to spend time with his 
grandchildren, he loved and 
cared deeply for my mother, 
and he loved the Detroit 
Jewish community and grew 
within it,” she added. 
Dr. Guyer is survived by 
his wife of 52 years, Cheryl 
Guyer; his children, Sara 
Guyer (Scott Straus), Erica 
Guyer (Daniel Franklin) 
and Jonathan Guyer; and six 
grandchildren, Sadie Straus, 
Solomon Straus, Anna 
Franklin, Jacob Franklin, 
Samuel Franklin and Aerin 
Franklin. He is also survived 
by sister, Annie (Judge 
Benjamin) Friedman; sister-
in-law, Elise (Dr. Marty) 
Levinson; brother-in-law, 
Neil Chapin (Diana Staneva) 
as well as many loving 
nieces, nephews, grand-
nieces, grandnephews, 
cousins, colleagues and a 
world of friends. 
Dr. Guyer was the son of 
the late Edith and the late 
Abram Guyer, and brother 
of the late Dr. Martin 
(Sheila) Guyer.
Private graveside 
services were held at Adat 
Shalom Memorial Park 
Cemetery. Contributions 
may be directed to Jewish 
Federation of Metro Detroit, 
jewishdetroit.org; or any 
Jewish charity of your 
choice. Arrangements by 
Hebrew Memorial Chapel. 

A Beloved Doctor 
& Community Leader

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

Dr. Dan Guyer

