Mike Ilitch

[veg tom]

Mike Ilitch pasted away at age 87. He is a business man who started a pizza business called little Caesars in garden city just outside the city of Detroit. He grew it to a 3.4 billion business over 60 plus years. He is one of the most down to earth people that anyone has meet. Some of the things he has done is he started something called Olympia entertainment which is currently being built. It consist of 45 blocks of entertainment district. One of the main things is a new hockey arena for the Detroit Redwings [which he owns] which will include the Detroit pistons. He also owns the Detroit Tigers. He wanted great sports in the Detroit area , which he did. Four Stanley cups for the Redwings. Two trips to the world series for the Tigers. He did not just sit in the owners box he loved to interact with the fans. He also rebuilt the Fox Theater in down town Detroit which was in very poor shape into a gem. He invested in Detroit when no one would. Detroit went through a very bad time in the 1980's 1990.s and 2000.s. No investment from anyone. He helped start a number of people to look into and invest in Detroit. The city is coming back in a big way thanks to Mike Ilitch and his influence. He is a very generous to the community in many ways starting youth groups charity and so many things too many to list. Ok to the point he did so much good such a good person helped so many people, employed so many people but he did it with bad for you food. No one forced people to buy he product. 99% of people eat sad. Most people see nothing wrong with eating sad. Comments?

[smudgemom]

To add another, in my mind, more important layer to Mr. Ilitch, this was uncovered:

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"Ilitch also had an impact on the daily life of one of the most iconic figures from the civil rights movement.

For more than a decade, Ilitch had quietly paid for Rosa Parks' apartment in downtown Detroit, according to CNN affiliate WXYZ. That story came to light thanks to Damon Keith, a Detroit native and federal judge.

"They don't go around saying it, but I want to, at this point, let them know, how much the Ilitches not only meant to the city, but they meant so much for Rosa Parks, who was the mother of the civil rights movement," Keith told WXYZ.

Shortly after her famed defiance of segregation sparked the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott, Parks moved to Detroit and became an important presence in the city for years afterward.

But in 1994, Parks was robbed and assaulted in her home at the age of 81.

Keith, himself an important legal figure in the civil rights movement, worked to find Parks a new, safer apartment at the Riverfront Apartments in Detroit, according to the Sports Business Daily.

Ilitch read the story in the newspaper and called Keith, offering to pay for Parks' housing indefinitely. With no fanfare, Ilitch continued paying for the apartment until Parks died in 2005, Keith said.

The entire episode was made public in 2014 in a story from Sports Business Daily. Keith even showed the reporter a copy of a 1994 check for $2,000 from Little Caesars Enterprises to Riverfront Apartments.

It has taken on a new life in light of Ilitch's death on Friday at the age of 87.
Michigan Lt. Gov. Brian Calley posted on Facebook a link to an article on the subject on Friday. "It will give you a sense of the kind of man Mike Ilitch was," he wrote.

"You'll never discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore. Mike and (his wife) Marian had the courage to lose sight of the shore and discover new oceans," Keith said.

"They kept pushing Detroit, and had it not been for them, I am saying, Detroit would not be in the renaissance that they're in now."

[Taggart]

Yes, I heard a nice commentary on the radio about Mike Ilitch the day he passed away. I admit to never having heard of him before, but sounds like one of the good guys in life.

[veg tom]

I said all this because there is a conflict. Does all the good out way the bad? I'm not the jury. I think Ilitch was an amazing person. Just wish I could help an entire big city.

[katgirl55]

I never heard of him, but in my teens I used to love buying the reasonably-priced Crazy Bread and sharing with my friends. It sounds like he put his wealth to good use.

[Jack Monzon]

I grew up in the Detroit area. Little Caesar's are everywhere, and I worked at one for a couple of years in my teens. Not McDougall-friendly. The Crazy Bread cost the company 11 cents to make at that time. I did learn some nice things about stirring sauce and about customer service.

[Risto]

Reminds me a little of Jamie Oliver, who has also made a fortune and done all kinds of good, but makes his money from selling fairly unhealthy food. I have no idea of how much Ilitch knew about nutrition - maybe he would have taken another look at his pizza if he had first-hand experience of a plant-based diet? In Oliver's case, there doesn't seem to be much of an excuse. He's apparently friends with a number of vegans, has talked about animal welfare, promotes plant-based recipes here and there and calls them healthy, has worked on improving school lunches etc.