Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/807429
18 April 6 • 2017 jn Family man gave generously to transform the community. William "Bill" Farber W illiam "Bill" Farber was a generous philan- thropist, an astute businessman, a devoted husband, father and grandfather, and a loyal friend. He passed away on March 25, 2017, after a valiant battle with a long illness. He was 85. After retiring from a successful career in the phar- maceutical business, Bill took pleasure in taking the financial rewards he reaped and passing them on to the community in the form of charitable gifts intended to transform the beneficiaries of his generosity, especially if the cause related to education and children. Bill was born in Detroit to Doris and Sam Farber, who had three children; Bill, Jake and Marsha. Bill, the oldest, exhibited his future entrepreneurial skills at age 14, when he opened an ice cream business "staffed" by neighbor- hood kids. Sam, a pharmacist, owned Farber Drugs, across the street from Central High School, and Bill was his faithful delivery boy. After joining the Army and serving four years in Japan, he returned home and attended Wayne State University, where he graduated and became a registered pharmacist. On a blind date, he met Audrey, who was his wife, best friend and most ardent supporter for 62 years. Theirs was a true partnership, and together they traveled the world and enjoyed spending time with family and friends, and most of all, with each other. When Bill decided to move into the pharmaceutical business, he feared being unsuccessful and unable to take care of his growing family, but he took the leap and invested in Michigan Pharmacal, which thrived under his leadership and business acumen. Audrey was his book- keeper until he sold the company in 1988. Always the risk-taker, Bill began buying stock in the struggling Lannett Company, one of the first generic drug manufacturers in country. He purchased it in 1991 and eventually turned the company into a highly successful enterprise. Of all his successes, and all the buildings, walls and plaques that bear his name, Bill was proudest of the three sons, David, Larry and Jeffrey, who carry on his name and his legacy. "My father had one great goal in life — to be better in everything you are, never stand still," Larry recalls. While all his sons have become successful business- men, they learned the basics from their father as young boys helping out in the family business. There was no advantage to being the boss' sons; Bill insisted they start from the bottom — mopping floors, taking out the trash and shelving stock. "My dad taught me I'm not above anyone," said David, which mirrored Bill's own attitude about the company he ran. "He ate snacks from the vending machine along with the workers. He would do anything that needed to be done. He wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty." Business and the money it generated were important to Bill, but only as a means to an end. Money allowed him to achieve his primary goal: taking care of his fam- RONELLE GRIER CONTRIBUTING WRITER i n m e m o r i a m jews d in the Audrey and Bill Farber, with Rabbi Harold Loss of Temple Israel, are at Hillel Day School in Farmington Hills, an institution that benefited from the Farbers' transformational gifts in the community. continued on page 20 COURTESY HILLEL DAY SCHOOL