Tigers, Red Wings owner and pizza titan Mike Ilitch dead at 87

[demmiblue]

Source: Freep

Mike Ilitch rose from a humble west-side neighborhood to assemble a food, sports and entertainment empire that enabled him to return the Stanley Cup to Hockeytown, build both a new arena and a ballpark with a Ferris wheel, restore the grandeur of downtown’s iconic Fox Theatre and introduce metro Detroit to the concept of “pizza-pizza.”

From his first Little Caesars outlet in a Garden City strip mall in 1959 — where a pizza cost $2.39 — Ilitch, aided at every step by Marian, his wife of 61 years, became a major metro Detroit personality and a key figure in the revival of downtown Detroit. In addition to founding the Little Caesars pizza chain, he owned the Red Wings, Tigers and the Fox Theatre, and operated city-owned Joe Louis, Cobo, and Little Caesars arenas, among other smaller businesses, teams and restaurants.

Mike Ilitch, one of the most famous Detroiters of his time, died today at the age of 87, according to his company, Ilitch Holdings. His family will honor him at a private funeral service, and a public memorial service is being planned and details will be announced as soon as they are finalized, the Ilitch companies said in a statement.

In lieu of flowers, the Ilitch family asks that donations be made to:

Ilitch Charities
The Detroit Tigers Foundation
The Detroit Red Wings Foundation

“My father was a once-in-a-generation entrepreneur, visionary and leader, setting the tone for our organization and our family,” said Christopher Ilitch, president and CEO of Ilitch Holdings, in a statement released by the company.

Read more: http://www.freep.com/story/money/business/columnists/2017/02/10/ilitch-detroit-pizza-red-wings-tigers-hockey-forbes/91475642/

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

1. Sad day in Michigan today...

Mr. Ilitch gave so much to Detroit and the state of Michigan. He was truly a great man.

[christx30]

2. I read something interesting about him today:

Little Caesars and Detroit Tigers owner Mike Ilitch quietly paid Rosa Park's rent for more than a decade, after she was robbed in her home and forced to move to a safer, but more expensive part of Detroit.

That's really all one needs to know about him to know what kind of person he was.

RIP