JULY 14 • 2022 | 13

DAN LEVITSKY

Dan Levitsky was an active member of the 
Jewish Community Center and its club pro-
grams, such as basketball and softball. His 
favorite memory of his high school years? His 
friends. “
After 60-some years, we’re still friend-
ly with each other,” he said.
After high school, Dan went to Wayne State 
and then University of Michigan to finish 
dental school. He spent a few years in the Air 
Force before coming back to Detroit, opening 
his own dental practice in Farmington Hills, 
marrying Dottie and having a family with chil-
dren Diane and David. 
Diane and her husband, Jonathan, live in 
San Diego, with their twin daughters, Abigail 
and Charlotte. David is in Colorado. 
Dan retired 15 years ago, and he and Dottie enjoy traveling the 
world, having been to every continent. He calls himself an amateur 
photographer and enjoys wildlife photography. 
He is on the board of the Sino-Judaic Institute, with a focus on 
Chinese-Jewish relations, and he is an active member of Metro 
Detroit’s Jewish community. 
“I’ve had a wonderful life, full of adventure,” he said.

DOUG ROSS 

Public servant, policy maker and educator 
Doug Ross remembers doing an entire come-
dy skit with Sue Rice for a full auditorium of 
students. “We made fun of teachers and of the 
world of Mumford. Why they let us do it I’ll 
never know,” he said. “Getting my first article 
printed in the Mumford Mercury was also mem-
orable.”
Doug, a lifelong Detroiter, spent stints in 
Washington, D.C., to work on Capitol Hill and 
in the Clinton administration. His career has 
been diverse, combining public service and 
education. On his list of achievements: state 
senator, Michigan Commerce director, U.S. 
assistant secretary of labor, senior adviser to 
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and, in education, 
founder of University Prep charter schools and chief innovation 
officer for the Detroit Public Schools, among others. 
His proudest achievements include leading the effort to repeal 
the sales tax on food and medicine and making Michigan the sec-
ond state in the nation to default prescriptions to generics. 
Ross has stayed involved in the Jewish community as a member 
of the former Birmingham Temple and serving on what was then 
the Jewish Community Council and as a member of the American 
Jewish Committee.
He’s married to Karol. They share sons Mitchell and Doug, and 
five incredible grandchildren.

BARBARA “BUNNY” KUKES KRATCHMAN

Barbara “Bunny” Kratchman’s high school let-
ter sweater shows she was on the tennis, golf 
and basketball teams. “However, one other 
memory stands out (aside from boyfriends) 
that changed my life,” she said. “
As a senior, I 
took a class on current affairs. The textbook 
was the daily newspaper. Friday, we had a quiz 
on the week’s events. 
 “This was the catalyst for my interest in 
politics.”
Barbara built a career in politics, beginning 
as an aide to Sen. Jacob Javits of New York 
during the Vietnam era. On her return to 
Michigan, she continued political work with 
Michigan Gov. Jim Blanchard, who appointed 
her director of the Michigan Council for the 
Arts. “My career then evolved even deeper into the arts and cultur-
al community, where I remain active today,” she said. 
Barbara calls her youth growing up in the Seven Mile and 
Livernois area in Detroit as “idyllic.”
“We all knew so many of the houses and families up and down 
the streets. This made it a real community,” she said. “We’d ride our 
bikes everywhere and, on Saturdays, we would ride to Billy’s Deli 
for lunch. It seemed to be a much simpler and more relaxed life 
than today.” 
Barbara and her husband, Michael, have four sons, a daughter, 
and six grandchildren ranging from 7-25 years old. She remains 
active in the Jewish community. 
“I guess I do not let much grass grow under my feet,” she said. “I 
continue to support the Jewish Federation, am active at Shaarey 
Zedek, but I am most excited about the Creative Expressions 
Program that I established with Kadima.”

MARK HAUSER

Mark Hauser says his favorite memory of 
Mumford High School was the competition. 
“The competition to get good grades at 
Mumford was almost as tough as the 
University of Michigan,” Hauser said. 
His competitive drive from high school led 
him to the University of Michigan for under-
grad and then Wayne State University where 
he served as a senior editor of the Wayne Law 
Review and earned his law degree. He went on 
to establish his own law firm, Maddin Hauser, 
where he still practices.
Mark stays connected to the Metro Detroit 
Jewish community. He is a member of Temple 
Beth El, is past president of the United Jewish 
Foundation of Metropolitan Detroit and has 
served as a national vice chairman and member of the executive 
committee of Jewish Federations of North America. His great-
est achievement, however, is winning the Fred M. Butzel Award, 

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