MORRIS NAUM BROAD.

1935 - 2016

BROAD, MORRIS NAUM, 81, of Coral Gables FL. Morris was born April 11, 1935 in Burlington Vermont. He was the son of Shepard and Ruth Kugel Broad and named for his maternal and paternal grandfathers, Morris Kugel and Nahum Bobrowicz.. Morris grew up in and with this community, to which he was devoted. He moved to Miami Beach at age 5 with his parents and sister Ann. He was a graduate of North Beach Elementary School, Ida M. Fisher Junior High and Miami Beach High School, where as a loyal Typhoon, Class of 1953, he served as Student Body President and Captain of the 1953 state champion tennis team. Morris went on to graduate from the University of Miami, where he was a founding member of its Zeta Beta Tau chapter and where he funded a scholarship that supports students who contribute to community life. His first job was to work on the dredging of Bay Harbor Islands, the town created and built by his father Shepard Broad. After serving in the Florida National Guard, Morris returned to Miami Beach, and became the third employee of American Savings & Loan Association, the first state-chartered savings and loan in the country. He rose to become the youngest president at that time of a savings and loan. He built American Savings into a $3 billion institution with 57 branches. The bank was sold in 1988 and is now part of Wells Fargo. In this role he initiated loans that financed many of the homes and buildings that form the Miami landscape. He was an equal- opportunity lender in that it was important to him to finance all in which he saw promise even at a time when many groups were discriminated against. His leadership style was a team captain who gave encouragement and support to his team members. Even though American Savings & Loan was sold close to three decades ago, former employees still gather at reunions. Morris had hoped to attend one taking place this month. Morris literally embodied generosity having the rare universal donor blood type O negative, which he donated in abundance as a member of the Red Cross 5-gallon club. And he gave to his full capacity on all levels with a generosity of spirit that had no bounds. He quietly helped hundreds of people personally from all walks of life and countless others through his philanthropy. Without mention, he put people through college, covered medical expenses, and gave support to people in tough circumstances. His primary philanthropic focus was the Town of Bay Harbor Islands. He put himself on standby for anything that the Town needed and was available to help in anyway that he could to improve the quality of life there. He flourished in his roles as Chairman of the Shepard Broad Foundation and Vice President and Director of the Ruth K. Broad Biomedical Research Foundation, Inc. at Duke University School of Medicine through which he carried forward the philanthropic legacies of his parents and extended their charitable works throughout the country and beyond. In addition to the Town of Bay Harbor Islands, he was particularly committed to many South Florida institutions including Florida International University Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs, Mt. Sinai Medical Center, and Lotus House. He was a member of Temple Beth Sholom for nearly eight decades. Beyond South Florida, Morris was a dedicated supporter of New York University Langone Medical Center, water purification programs in Haiti, Green Mountain College in Vermont and Boystown Jerusalem. He was especially proud of his affiliation with the Young Presidents Organization and was a former President of the organization. Morris had a terrific sense of humor and was a raconteur. He told great jokes and kept them cleanno foul language and never mean-spirited. He enjoyed life and always found the silver lining in tough times. He embedded "luckyguy" in his email address because he was so grateful for his family, friends, community and life. He lived at the Palm Bay Club and the Jockey Club in their heydays. He played tennis there and befriended many interesting people from around the world who remained part of his life. His joy and fun-loving spirit came from within. He was by nature optimistic and a lover of life, and he lifted all those around him with this attitude. He often said that his glass was "half-full", and he always focused on the good, the upside, and the beautiful. With that focus, he found and married Anita Earnest Broad. They built a happy, peaceful and joyful life together and were devoted to one another. He called her his "Ace" and traveled the world, spent summer and fall months, at first, in Wyoming and then in Vermont before restoring and renovating their historic French Village home in Coral Gables. They spent recent years engaged in philanthropic work together and enjoying their granddaughters Emma and Sara Broad. Morris was the patriarch of the Broad and Bussel families. A more devoted husband, father, brother, uncle and grandfather could not exist. He was deeply involved in the lives of his nieces and nephews, showering them with love and offering guidance and wisdom from birth through adulthood. He extended his love to their friends and many other kids. He was "Uncle Morris" to countless people. A loss on so many planes, shocking news. Many will mourn, many will remember the deeds of a truly great man.