54 | AUGUST 10 • 2023 

OBITUARIES
OF BLESSED MEMORY

had a sense of humor, enjoying a 
good laugh over a clever joke. 
Inspired by their father’s example, 
all three children have continued his 
legacy of community service in their 
own lives. 
Schwartz earned honors and awards 
from numerous organizations for 
his selfless service, including the 
prestigious Fred M. Butzel Memorial 
Award from the Jewish Federation of 
Metropolitan Detroit.
In 2013, he was the first recipient 
of the Alan E. Schwartz award for 
outstanding community service, 
created in his honor by former 
Detroit Mayor Dave Bing. 
Other accolades include the George 
W. Romney Award for Lifetime 
Achievement in Volunteerism, 
the Max M. Fisher Community 

Service Award from United Way 
for Southeastern Michigan, and the 
Judge Learned Hand Award from 
the American Jewish Committee. 
He was honored by New Detroit and 
received honorary Doctor of Law 
degrees from Wayne State University 
and the University of Detroit. In 
addition, Schwartz was inducted 
into the International Institute of 
Metropolitan Detroit Hall of Fame 
in 1984 and named a Detroit News 
Michiganian of the Year in 1987.
Alan and Marianne shared an 
intense passion for art, accumulating 
one of the world’s greatest private 
collections of works on paper, from 
Rembrandt to Albrecht Dürer to 
Picasso, with a concentration in 
American prints. They established 
the Schwartz Galleries of Prints and 

Drawings at the Detroit Institute 
of Arts (DIA), which honored the 
couple with the DIA Lifetime Service 
Award in 1977.
Alan furthered his commitment to 
the community by making generous 
donations to countless Jewish and 
secular causes, including the Hebrew 
Free Loan Association, the Arthritis 
Foundation, University of Michigan 
Hillel, Tamarack Camps, the Zionist 
Organization of America (ZOA), 
the Allied Jewish Campaign, the 
Jewish National Fund, Kadima, 
the Weizmann Institute of Science, 
B’nai Brith International, the Janice 
Charach Gallery, Meadowbrook 
Theater and the Hudson-Webber 
Foundation in Detroit.
Alan E. Schwartz is survived 
by his cherished children, Marc 

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