10 | JUNE 8 • 2023 

OUR COMMUNITY

F

or six Metro Detroiters, June 21 will 
be a night to remember. 
That’s when the Jewish 
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit will 
host its annual awards night, which honors 
exceptional individuals for their dedication 
to and impact on the Jewish communi-
ty. Think of the ceremony — held at the 
Berman Center for the Performing Arts 
in West Bloomfield — as the Academy 
Awards for mensches. 
The honorees range in age, background 
and profession, but they all prioritize com-
munity involvement for the same reason: 
They’
d rather give than receive. “
Anybody 
can get,
” says Guy Barron, the winner of 
this year’s William Davidson Lifetime 
Achievement Award. “We get more plea-
sure out of being able to help others.
” 
Here, a look at each award and this year’s 
honorees.

WILLIAM DAVIDSON LIFETIME 
ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
Since 2000, the William Davidson Lifetime 
Achievement Award — one of Federation’s 
highest honors, which celebrates the leg-
acy of its namesake — has recognized 
Detroiters with extensive track records of 
Jewish communal leadership. 
Barron’s relationship with Federation 
dates back to the 1960s, when he began 
getting involved in the organizations that 
his wife, Nora, supported, including Jewish 
Family Service and JVS (now Gesher 

Human Services). Nora was given the 
William Davidson Lifetime Achievement 
Award in 2008.
About 40 years ago, the couple — 
grandparents of four who split their time 
between Bloomfield Hills and California — 
established the Barron Family Foundation. 
The foundation gives more than 50 
gifts annually to everything from Camp 
Tamarack to Federation’s Mission Lab, 
which the pair created to offer innovative 
trips to Israel. “There’s always stuff to give 
away,
” says Barron, who, at 89, is still active 
in his real estate career. “We’ve never had a 
problem giving it away to people or organi-
zations that need it.
”
Roz Blanck is an attorney by profession, 
but after becoming active in Federation’s 
Young Adult Division in the early 1980s, 
she decided volunteering was her true call-
ing. “I haven’t left Federation since,
” says 
the Franklin mother of three and grand-
mother of four. 
Over the past four decades, Blanck has 
served on dozens of Federation boards and 
committees, from JVS, the Jewish Fund 
and the Jewish Community Relations 
Council to Tamarack Camps and Hillel 
of MSU. She’s also been president of the 
Women’s Philanthropy Department. 
As a lifelong Detroiter, Blanck, 70, says 
her involvement strengthens her ties to her 
beloved community. “I get to see how the 
community works together as a whole,
” she 
says. “We’re all in this together.
”

Meet six Metro Detroiters being honored 
at Federation’s 2023 Annual Awards Night

The 
Academy Awards 
for Mensches

NICOLE FREHSEE MAZUR SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

Roz 
Blanck 

Guy 
Barron

