The Naimark Fund
In September 2006, the Michigan Interfaith Trust Fund bid an unexpected, and very sad, farewell to one of our founding board members, Norm Naimark. Norm was instrumental in forming the Michigan Housing Trust Fund in 1985 (which merged with the Michigan McGehee Interfaith Loan Fund in 2004.) He held the distinct honor of not only being a founding member, he also served the greatest number of years of any board member in our combined history. At the board meeting the week before his death, Norm participated extensively and provided many helpful suggestions regarding the new direction outlined for our economic development lending.
Born in 1917 in Detroit, Norm began what would become a lifetime of service at a young age. He enlisted in the United States Army on November 14, 1941 as a Private, and spent a year in South Carolina’s Camp Croft for Basic Infantry Training. After serving stateside for a few years, working his way up to the rank of Captain, Norm was shipped off to the Pacific theater in February 1945, where he headed the Manpower Survey and Audit Team in the Hawaiian Islands, Saigon, Guam and Palau. In March of that year, Norm landed at Iwo Jima, where he served as a Classification and Military Personnel Officer, and was soon promoted to Major.
He served in the Army through the end of 1945, and was discharged from service after returning to the United States in December. Norm was recommended for the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious service in connection with military operations against the enemy between March and August 1945.
Upon returning from World War II, Norm met his wife of 56 years, Helen Alpert, during a 1947 campaign to collect supplies for Holocaust survivors in displacement camps. They were married on June 4, 1950 in Watertown, New York, and had four children: Michael, David, Judith and Susan.
Norm spent most of his adult life working as a builder, developer, property manager, and continued to serve as an active arbitrator long past his official retirement. Over the course of his long career, Norm built 1,100 apartments and condominium units, medical and dental clinics, residences, and a convalescent home in Southeast Michigan. He also taught builders license and advanced residential construction courses at Oakland University Continuing Education and the University of Michigan Extension Service.
Norm was also extremely committed to various Jewish community and Zionist causes. He was the Chair of the Urban Affairs and Holocaust Committees and served on the Executive Committee for the Jewish Community Council over a 16-year period. Norm was on the Board of Governors for the Jewish Welfare Federation for nine years, and served as the President of the Detroit Zionist Federation for five years as well. In 1982, 1987, 1992, and 1997, he served as a delegate at the World Zionist Congress in Jerusalem.
On top of his various entrepreneurial and voluntary faith-based activities, Norm also found time over the years to serve as the Road Commissioner and Chairman of the Safety Commission for Franklin Village, the First Vice President of the Birmingham Board of Education, and as President of the Corktown Consumer Housing Cooperative. He received commendation for his efforts to bring about an unprecedented early contract settlement between the Birmingham teachers and the Birmingham Board of Education.
Norm Naimark lived a long, fulfilling life dominated by the desire to serve others, and had a true love affair with his wife Helen during their 56 years of marriage. All of us at the Michigan Interfaith Trust Fund are proud to have been a small part of his remarkable life. There are few people in this world that could ever bring Norm’s lifetime of experience to an organization like ours, and his wisdom will be sorely missed.
We extend our deepest sympathies to Norm’s family for their loss. It is with a heavy heart that the Michigan Interfaith Trust Fund humbly accepts the challenge of carrying on his legacy through our work, and we invite Norm’s family, friends, and colleagues to join us in honoring his life through the establishment of the Naimark Fund.
All donations made to this new fund will directly support the Trust Fund’s affordable housing and economic justice programs, which Norm helped make a reality. As these loan dollars are lent out to new borrowers and repaid, the Naimark Fund will come to sustain itself, and enable one of our most dedicated founding board members to continue a lifetime of service through his legacy.