26 | FEBRUARY 23 • 2023
OUR COMMUNITY
B
enjamin Craine, 78,
of Bloomfield Hills
was a successful
business owner, a dedicated
photographer, a tireless
motivator and an endless
source of encouragement to
all who knew him.
To his daughter Ellyn
Davidson of Huntington
Woods, he was also a mentor,
a business adviser and, above
all, a best friend. After Ben
passed away June 26, 2022,
Ellyn, a marketing executive
and CEO of Brogan &
Partners, found a unique way
to memorialize her father
while sharing the life lessons
he taught her. She started a
series of online posts she calls
“lessons from Ben.”
“I’m going to start using
LinkedIn to share things I
learned from my dad,” she
wrote in her first post a few
weeks after his death.
“One of my favorites: Every
business deal should be a
win-win for both parties. In
other words, there is never a
reason to walk away feeling
like you got the short stick in
a deal. And you never want
to be the person on the other
side feeling that way, either.
#lessonsfromben.”
That first post received 283
likes and 137 comments. One
of Ellyn’s followers, Michael
Lutz, replied saying the lesson
resonated with him.
“That has always been
my mantra, win-win-win,”
he wrote. “Taught to me by
the generation of men who
preceded me. That generation
of creators, entrepreneurs and
mentors have left us so much
to be embraced. Thanks for
sharing.”
IMPORTANCE OF SMILING
A few weeks later, another les-
son from Ben emerged. This
one focused on smiling.
“It’s been eight weeks since
I’ve seen your smile, Dad.
And today I’m sharing the
simplest, but possibly most
important lesson you ever
taught me. Always answer
the phone with a smile on
your face. It makes you sound
friendlier,” she wrote. “The
day you first shared that with
me is forever ingrained in my
memory. I was 14, working
at The Photo Center, and the
phone rang. I answered with
my usual, ‘Good afternoon,
The Photo Center, how can
I help you?’ You were on the
other end and could tell by
my tone I wasn’t smiling.
And that’s when you shared
your tip. I soon realized that
answering the phone with
a smile could change the
entire tone of a conversation.
#lessonsfromben.”
Additional lessons
covered topics of friendship,
commitment, communication
and more. Ben learned these
important life hacks over
nearly eight decades. He
served as president of the
B.H. Craine Company in
Farmington Hills, a supplier
of wholesale packaging
papers to distributors from
Ellyn Davidson keeps her late father’s memory alive through online posts.
Lessons from Ben
ROBIN SCHWARTZ CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Ellyn Davidson
and her late
father Ben
Craine