56 | NOVEMBER 21 • 2024 

OBITUARIES
OF BLESSED MEMORY

J

effrey Hale Miro, 82, of 
Bloomfield Hills, passed away 
on Oct. 4, 2024, from Lewy 
Body dementia at his home, sur-
rounded by the love of his wife and 
three children.
Incredibly sharp, affable, hum-
ble and wise, Jeffrey was one of the 
foremost attorneys working in real 
estate, orchestrating some of the most 
influential deals of the ’70s, ’80s and 
’90s. He was also a devoted husband, 
father and grandfather whose love, 
humor and support guided his family 
throughout his years.
Born to David and Bernice Miro in 
Detroit on June 3, 1942, Jeffrey Miro 
was a precocious, athletic and ram-
bunctious child who loved summer 
camp in Northern Wisconsin and to 
cause mischief with his neighborhood 
friends in Palmer Woods. 
Jeffrey attended and “left” vari-
ous elementary schools, including 
Hampton, Detroit Country Day and 
Cranbrook. He settled in for high 
school at Grosse Pointe University 
School, where he graduated. Jeffrey 
received his B.S. from Cornell 
University in economics, then went 
to University of Michigan Law School 
for his J.D. and Harvard Law School 
for his L.L.M. 
While at Michigan, Jeffrey met his 
wife, Marsha White Miro, on a blind 
date only to reconnect fortuitously 
at the American Express Counter 
in Florence, Italy. They recognized 
immediately they were different — 
one a logical, driven lawyer, the other 
an ever-curious dreamer and art his-
torian — yet perfect for each other. 
Jeffrey always made Marsha laugh, 
supported her as she forged a new 
path for women writing about art and 
understood deeply her curious and 
unconventional mind; while Marsha 
helped Jeffrey see the world in a way 
he otherwise could not, supported 
him as he pursued his sprawling 
vision for his law practice, and helped 
him balance his brilliance and inten-
sity with a love for the life and family 
they shared. They married in 1967 

and over a dynamic 57-year union 
had three children and nine grand-
children while living in Bloomfield 
Hills until moving to Manhattan and 
Hillsdale, N.Y., in 2016.
After finishing school in 1966, 
Jeffrey joined his father’s law firm 
Smith, Miro, Hirsch, Brody and 
Zweig, where he began representing 
shopping center magnate A. Alfred 
Taubman, beginning a lifelong collab-
oration and friendship. While he start-
ed in tax law, Jeffrey quickly gained 
a reputation for being a brilliant and 
inventive legal strategist in real estate 
and corporate transactions. Perhaps 
his most influential contribution to 
investment law was the creation of 
the first real estate invest-
ment trust (REIT) for the 
Taubman Company. Also 
for Taubman and inves-
tors Max Fischer, Henry 
Ford II and Donald Bren, 
Jeffrey outmaneuvered 
Mobil Oil for the rights 
to purchase what would 
become modern-day 
Orange County — the 
Irvine Ranch — from the 
Irvine Family in 1977 for the then- 
unprecedented price of $337 million. 
Jeffrey also advised Taubman in the 
creation of the USFL and the founding 
of the Michigan Panthers, who won 
the league’s inaugural championship 
in 1985. Continuing to move outside 
real estate, Jeffrey helped facilitate 
Taubman’s thwarting of a hostile take-
over for the purchase of Sotheby’s auc-
tion house in 1983 for $124.8 million. 
Jeff served on the board of Sotheby’s 
for 20 years, helping build it into 
the global auction house it is today. 
Jeffrey would go on to serve on many 
other boards, including at Fortune 
500 companies such as the Limited 
Corporation.
In addition to helping others build 
their business, Jeffrey managed to 
build his own. With his father and 
brother-in-law, Ernest Weiner, Jeffrey 
started his own law firm, Miro, Miro 
and Weiner in 1981, gathering a 

stable of the most talented lawyers 
in Detroit and slowly adding clients 
until it became one of the most well- 
regarded and sought-after firms in the 
city. After its dissolution in 2004, he 
became a senior partner at Honigman 
LLC.
In addition to his success as a 
practicing lawyer, Jeffrey believed in 
passing on his knowledge and faith in 
the law, particularly the necessity of 
practicing ethically. He was a beloved 
and talented teacher who worked as 
adjunct professor of law, first at Wayne 
State University and then for 24 years 
at University of Michigan Law School, 
where he taught real estate, tax law 
and corporate governance. 
He loved working with 
students and was known as 
imminently approachable 
and capable of communi-
cating the most complicat-
ed concepts in the simplest 
ways. His devotion to his 
students’ success was such 
that he refused a salary, 
instead creating a merit 
scholarship fund that con-
tinues posthumously.
Throughout his life, Jeffrey was a 
passionate philanthropist, contrib-
uting his own resources as well as 
marshaling those of his influential 
client base for many good causes in 
the suburban Detroit community. He 
helped raise money for, among others, 
the University of Michigan, University 
of Michigan Medical Center and 
Cranbrook Educational Community.
Throughout Jeffrey’s many accom-
plishments, his character shone 
brightly. He was a true original — 
friends, colleagues and family would 
often say there was no one else like 
him. He was well-known for his abil-
ity to parse problems and distill solu-
tions into wise, workable advice. 
He was often prescient, predicting 
problems before they happened, and 
he had a deep focus and drive that 
contrasted with his ever-positive 
demeanor — a “fighter” who made 
you smile.

Jeffrey was beloved for his wit — he 
loved to laugh and get others to laugh 
at even the most difficult situations — 
and for his intelligence — he famously 
walked out of the Michigan Bar exam 
so early he was booed, only to take a 
deep bow. Jeffrey took great pride in 
and demonstrated often his ability to 
listen. He felt it was a lost art and an 
essential skill for knowing the people 
and world around you. It was always 
clear that Jeffrey’s understanding of 
the emotions and complexities that 
make us who we are were essential to 
who he was. And what was particular-
ly admirable was how he applied that 
understanding, his empathy, his deep 
intelligence and love for life, to the 
people he loved most.
Jeffrey’s love of his family 
transcended everything, and it was 
for them he worked so hard. As a 
father to his three children, he was 
thoughtful, generous and unparalleled 
in his ability to gently give them the 
confidence and support to pursue 
their dreams and become the best 
versions of themselves. He always 
made time to give them his famous 
advice or make them laugh and 
see the positive. He took them on 
adventures down the Colorado River 
or into the heart of the Galapagos, 
where he could bond more deeply and 
see the world more closely through 
their eyes. He was also a loving 
grandfather, who loved taking his 
whole gang to Hawaii and Walloon 
Lake, where his sharp wit was a source 
of constant entertainment, even if his 
jokes were often inappropriate. 
Yet, through all their travels as a 
family, the hikes on the Napali coast 
or dives with sea turtles, Jeffrey loved 
nothing more than sitting for long 
meals with his family. He cherished 
the banter and storytelling but, above 
all, the time spent simply being 
together. It was his happiest of happy 
places, and he often planned the next 
meal as the prior one was still going, 
making sure it was a pleasure that 
would never end.
Perhaps Jeffrey’s many 

A Legal-Minded Visionary

Jeffrey 
Miro