FEBRUARY 24 • 2022 | 15

Stacy Fox relies on her 
longtime employee Marilyn 
Wolton of Oak Park, associated 
with Star Bakery since 1960. 
The only child of Polish 
Holocaust survivors Joyce and 
Henry “Chaim” Abramowitz, 
Wolton was born in a displaced 
persons camp in Germany. 
She remembered when her 
father, owner of a shoe repair 
shop on Coolidge, told 14-year-
old Marilyn to “find a job, but 
you’re not working for me.” 
Down the street, former Star 
Bakery owner Gene Klein hired 
her, and “two years later, I was 
the bookkeeper.”
Wolton worked less at 
the bakery while raising her 
children, Rodney and Nicole, 
with husband, Ron “The 
Banker” Wolton. She returned 
to full-time employment when 
Nicole entered sixth grade. 
The new job title was “trouble 
shooter,” requiring Wolton to 
train sales workers at Star’s 
former chain of four bakeries.
Now serving customers 
behind the counter, Wolton 
said she’s pleased to see Fox’s 
innovations after so many 
years of “nothing changing” 
under previous owners. Wolton 
assists with Star Bakery’s 
new rewards program that 
lets interested customers 
accumulate points from their 
purchases toward a future 
discount.

find at an Israeli bakery. 
Alfajoreses features layers 
of creamy dulce de leche 
spread between two thin 
shortbread cookies, the 
edges rolled in powdered 
sugar. 
Many of the additional 
menu items that intrigue 
Fox — “I would love to 
make my mother’s apple 
kugel. I want to add hot 
soup” — will have to wait 
until she can hire more 
help, particularly bakers. 
Star Bakery currently has 
20 employees ranging from 
high school age to senior 
citizens, Around 10 work at 
Diamond Bakery.
“We hire employees for 
their attitude, then we’ll 
train them,” she said. At 
work daily, Fox takes pride in personally 
preparing the dough used for rugelach, 
mandelbread and more. When her bakers 
arrive at 4 a.m., the baked goods they 
make will include babkas, turnovers and 
cookies, including Marty’s-style chocolate 
chip. Bakers on the 4 p.m. shift produce 
bread only.
Operations and the décor are more in 

hand at Star Bakery, which 
Fox has managed since 
summer. A “Breakfast 
Special” at Star is $3.99 for 
a cup of Great Lakes Coffee 
Co. coffee with a Danish-
style pastry. “We also want 
to have thick slices of 
challah toast smeared with 
butter and cinnamon sugar,” 
she said.
Below the front windows 
at Star is a long, weathered 
wood pew that came from 
an old synagogue in Detroit. 
Fox plans to put up pictures 
of old Jewish bakeries and 
vintage baking utensils. The 
most notable change in the 
bakery is a menu mural 
on the black-painted back 
wall. Designer Izzy Fox, a 
creative advertising major 
at Michigan State University (her parents’ 
alma mater), beautifully hand-painted the 
colorful words. She will be repeating the 
project this spring at Diamond Bakery. As 
Stacy Fox updates the décor at Diamond, 
to “shlep it into the 21st century,” she 
expressed appreciation for the efforts 
of Michael, her “Jewish husband with a 
toolbelt. He can fix anything.” 

Marilyn 
Wolton

All-Star 
Marilyn Wolton

Star Bakery 
26031 Coolidge 
Highway 
Oak Park, MI 48237 
Phone: (248) 541-9450 
www.thestarbakery.com 
Hours: 6 a.m.-6 p.m. 
weekdays; 6 a.m.-3 p.m. 
weekends

Diamond 
Bakery 
6722 Orchard Lake Road 
West Bloomfield, MI 
48322 
Phone: (248) 626-2212 
www.diamondbakery.net 
Hours: 6 a.m.-3 p.m. 
Tuesday-Sunday

Stacy Fox, Marilyn Wolton 
and the baking crew.