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December 29 • 2016 11 continued on page 12 U-M and through the Association for Jewish Studies. "If someone asked me to invent a major donor who understands fully what we are trying to accomplish for Jewish education, I would invent Bill Berman," Dr. Donald Sylvan, former JESNA president, said in a previous JN story, speaking about Bill's dedi- cation to education. "What he gives is so much more than money; he is fighting along with us. Bill believes in what we do so completely. He is a booster, a problem solver and participant extraordinaire." EVOLUTION OF BILL BERMAN Bill Berman was born in Detroit in 1917, one of four children of Julius and Esther Anna Berman. With a first name like Mandell, a person needed to have a nick- name and his became "Billy," after an Uncle Bill who died around the time he was born. Berman attended Doty Elementary, Hutchins Inter- mediate and Central High School, graduating in 1936. "My father came from old Russia and met my mother here; she was born in Toledo," Bill told the late Bill Carroll for a previ- ous JN story. "He did well in real estate, and we had a maid and a chauffeur living in our large house. They didn't get paid any- thing, but they got free room and board. "My father also ran the old Eckert and Becker Brewery. Then came the 1929 stock market crash and he went bankrupt. But he picked up the pieces, and my brother, two sisters and I were able to attend college." Berman obtained two degrees from Harvard: a BA degree, magna cum laude, and an MBA from Harvard's Business School. "I lived next door to John F. Kennedy in Cambridge, but only really knew him enough to say 'hello' every day," Bill had said. "When I graduated, World War II was well under way, and I received a letter from the govern- ment informing me I could enter the Navy as an ensign, so I spent four years there as an officer." He became an expert in under- water ordnance and mines by taking training at Dartmouth University and in Maryland and Florida. "I spent 48 months in the Navy, dodging Japanese Zeroes and Kamikaze pilots," he told reporter Carroll. "I even landed with the Marines on Okinawa, which was one of the bloodiest battles in the Pacific [12,513 American deaths over 82 days]. "I thought, 'I'm a Jewish naval officer. What the heck am I doing here on the beach with the Marines.' "One night in the rain and cold, I ended up sleeping right next to a 500-pound bomb that didn't detonate. I woke up staring at the bomb and I figured I must be mishugah (crazy)." The post-war building busi- ness was tame by comparison as Berman and his brother-in-law, Bert L. Smokler, built more than 20,000 homes and condomini- ums in Michigan alone between 1946-1975. Many of the homes were in Royal Oak, Clawson and metro Washington, D.C., then their building empire spread to west- ern Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota "What you gave will not be forgotten. A shining example of kindness and generosity, sharing your insight and inspiring us all. Thank you for the Berman Center for the Performing Arts, a beautiful legacy that we will cherish and honor. We remember you. " — JCC/The Berman Center for the Performing Arts