Upcoming Services
| Jeffrey Hale Miro |
Fri Nov 22nd at 12:00 IRA KAUFMAN CHAPEL | |
| Joni Beth Sands |
Sun Oct 20th at 1:00 IRA KAUFMAN CHAPEL | |
| Sidell Lewis Goldman |
Tue Oct 15th A PRIVATE FAMILY SERVICE |
FUNERAL DETAILS
Jeffrey Hale MiroJeffrey Hale Miro, 82, of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, died on 04 October 2024. The Memorial Service will be held at IRA KAUFMAN CHAPEL on Friday, 22 November 2024 at 12:00 PM . Rabbi Joseph Krakoff will officiate. Interment at Clover Hill Park Cemetery.
Jeffrey Hale Miro (82), of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, passed away on October 4, 2024 from Lewy Body dementia at his home surrounded by the love of his wife and three children. Incredibly sharp, affable, humble and wise, Jeffrey was one of the foremost attorneys working in real estate, orchestrating some of the most influential deals of the 70s, 80s and 90s. He was also a devoted husband, father and grandfather whose love, humor and support guided his family throughout his years. Born to David and Bernice Miro in Detroit, Michigan on June 3rd, 1942, Jeffrey Miro was a precocious, athletic and rambunctious child who loved summer camp in Northern Wisconsin and causing mischief with his neighborhood friends in Palmer Woods. Jeffrey attended and ‘left’ various elementary schools, including Hampton, Detroit Country Day and Cranbrook. He settled in for high school at Grosse Pointe University School (GPUS), where he graduated. Jeffrey received his BS from Cornell University in economics, then went to University of Michigan Law School for his JD and Harvard Law School for his LLM. While at Michigan, Jeffrey met his wife, Marsha White Miro, on a blind date only to reconnect fortuitously at the American Express Counter in Florence, Italy. They recognized immediately they were different -- one a logical, driven lawyer, the other an ever curious dreamer and art historian -- yet perfect for each other. Jeffrey always made Marsha laugh, supported her as she forged a new path for women writing about art and understood deeply her curious and unconventional mind; while Marsha helped Jeffrey see the world in a way he otherwise could not, supported him as he pursued his sprawling vision for his law practice and helped him balance his brilliance and intensity with a love for the life and family they shared. They married in 1967 and over a dynamic 57 year union had three children and nine grandchildren while living in Bloomfield Hills until moving to Manhattan and Hillsdale, New York in 2016. After finishing school in 1966, Jeffrey joined his father’s law firm Smith, Miro, Hirsch, Brody and Zweig where he began representing shopping center magnate A. Alfred Taubman, beginning a lifelong collaboration and friendship. While he started in tax law, Jeffrey quickly gained a reputation for being a brilliant and inventive legal strategist in real estate and corporate transactions. Perhaps his most influential contribution to investment law was the creation of the first real estate investment trust (REIT) for the Taubman Company. Also with Taubman and investors Max Fischer, Henry Ford II and Donald Bren, Jeffrey outmaneuvered Gulf Oil for the rights to purchase what would essentially become modern day Orange County -- the Irvine Ranch -- from the Irvine Family in 1977 for the then unprecedented price of $337 million. Jeffrey also guided Taubman in the creation of the USFL and the founding of the Michigan Panthers who won the league’s inaugural championship in 1985. He and Taubman continued to venture outside real estate when they were able to thwart a hostile takeover with the purchase of Sotheby’s auction house in 2. 2. 1983 for $124.8 million. Jeff served on the board of Sotheby’s for twenty years helping build it into the global auction house it is today. Jeffrey would go on to serve on many other boards, including at Fortune 500 companies such as the Limited Corporation. In addition to helping others build their business, Jeffrey also managed to build his own. With his father and brother-in-law Ernest Weiner, Jeffrey started his own law firm, Miro, Miro and Weiner in 1981, gathering a stable of the most talented lawyers in Detroit and slowly adding clients until it became one of the most well regarded and sought after firms in the city. After its dissolution in 2004, he became a senior partner at Honigman LLC. In addition to his success as a practicing lawyer, Jeffrey believed in passing on his knowledge and faith in the law, particularly the necessity of practicing ethically. He was a beloved and talented teacher who worked as adjunct professor of tax and corporate law, first at Wayne State University and then for 24 years at University of Michigan Law School where he taught tax law and corporate governance. He loved working with students and was known as imminently approachable and capable of communicating the most complicated concepts in the simplest ways. His devotion to his students’ success was such that he refused a salary, instead creating a merit scholarship fund that continues posthumously. Throughout his life, Jeffrey was a passionate philanthropist, contributing his own resources as well as marshaling those of his influential client base for many good causes in the suburban Detroit community. He helped raise money for, among others, the University of Michigan, University of Michigan Medical Center and Cranbrook Educational Community. Throughout his many accomplishments, Jeffrey’s character shown brightly. He was a true original -- friends, colleagues and family would often say there was no one else like him. He was well-known for his ability to parse problems and distill solutions into wise, workable advice. He was often prescient, predicting problems before they happened, and had a deep focus and drive that contrasted with his ever-positive demeanor -- a ‘fighter’ who made you smile. Jeffrey was beloved for his wit -- he loved to laugh and get others to laugh at even the most difficult situations -- and for his intelligence -- he famously walked out of the Michigan Bar exam so early he was booed, only to take a deep bow. Jeffrey took great pride in, and demonstrated often, his ability to listen. He felt it was a lost art and an essential skill for knowing the people and world around you. It was always clear that Jeffrey’s understanding of the emotions and complexities that make us who we are were essential to who he was. And what was particularly admirable was how he applied that understanding, his empathy, his deep intelligence and love for life, to the people he loved most. Jeffrey’s love of his family transcended everything and it was for them he worked so hard. As a father to his three children, he was thoughtful, generous and unparalleled in his ability to gently give them the confidence and support to pursue their dreams and become the best versions of themselves. He always made time to give them his famous advice or take them on adventures down the Colorado river or into the heart of the Galapagos where he could bond more deeply and see the world more closely through their eyes. He was also a loving grandfather who loved taking his whole ‘gang’ to Hawaii and Walloon lake where his sharp wit was a source of constant entertainment, even if his jokes were often inappropriate. Yet through all of their travels as a family, the hikes on the Napali coast or dives with sea turtles, Jeffrey loved nothing more than sitting for long meals with his family. He cherished the banter and story telling but above all the time spent simply being together. It was his happiest of happy places and he often planned the next meal as the prior one was still going, making sure it was a pleasure that would never end. Perhaps Jeffrey’s many accomplishments -- and no doubt his pride -- is nowhere more evident than in the achievements of his wife, children and grandchildren. Marsha was the art critic for the Detroit Free Press from 1974-1995 and is the founder and founding director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit. Jeffrey’s eldest son, Doug (52) is a screenwriter who created the Netflix shows ‘Narcos’ and ‘Griselda’. His eldest daughter, Darcy (51) is an artist whose work is in several permanent collections including the Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Art and Design. And Jeffrey’s youngest daughter Chelsea (37) founded her own educational consulting firm and publishes regularly on pedagogy and curricular design. Jeffrey was thrilled to get to see three of his grandchildren follow in his and Marsha’s footsteps and attend the University of Michigan -- and a fourth grandchild mirror his deep intellectual curiosity by attending the University of Chicago. In addition to his wife and three children, Jeffrey’s also survived by nine grandchildren, Lily (20), Lucien (19), Olivia (18), Matteo (17), Phoebe (14), Judah (10), Wren (6), Soren (5) and Zadie (4 months) and his sister, Barbara Weiner and her three daughters and their families. It is suggested that those who wish to further honor the memory of Jeffrey Hale Miro may do so by making a contribution to: Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD)Click to Visit Charity Website or World Wildlife FundClick to Visit Charity Website or University of MichiganClick to Visit Charity Website |