We wanted to share the news of the passing of one of our most devoted and long-term board members, Michael Friedman. For those of us who've been with the club for a while especially, we will miss him dearly. He and his wife, Barbara Harvey, were regular attendees to many events over the years. We knew Michael mainly as an attorney and partner at Honigman Miller in Detroit. In 2007 he founded the Center for Community-Based Enterprise (C2BE) with a goal of building a more equitable local economy with worker-owned businesses. He stayed active as a board member and business advisor with C2BE until his passing in August.
We share in the loss and offer our sympathies to Barbara and his family and everyone who is mourning him. He was quite an impressive and colorful individual with a life-long commitment to social justice.
Born in Brooklyn and raised in Columbus, Ohio, Michael moved to Cleveland in 1970 to become a Teamster and founding member of Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU). After 14 years of driving a truck and building TDU, he left truck driving and moved to Detroit to share a life with Barbara, who was a TDU attorney. He got his law degree and was a partner in his firm's benefit plans department until he retired in 2013.
His Columbia connection was just one of his impressive educational credentials: He graduated magna cum laude from Wayne State University Law School and summa cum laude from Columbia College in New York City. He also held B.A. and M.A. degrees from Trinity College in Cambridge England.
There is so much more to share about his life. Please consider attending the Saturday, November 15 Celebration of Life Memorial from 2-5 p.m. in Ferndale. RSVPs are requested.
You may also want to see this post honoring him on Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib's Facebook page.
— Ellen Piligian and Thomas Libby, co-presidents of the CAA of Michigan on behalf of our entire board and Michigan alumni of Columbia University