Mike Ilitch, Entrepreneur and Champion for Detroit

Mike Ilitch, founder of Little Caesars Pizza and owner of the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings
professional sports teams, died peacefully on Friday, February 10, 2017.

Mike is survived by the love of his life, Marian, who he met on a blind date more than 62 years ago. He
was devoted to Marian and their seven children: Denise, Ron, Michael Jr. (Noelle), Lisa (Glenn Murray),
Atanas (Patty), Christopher (Kelle), and Carole. He loved children so much, he probably would have had
a dozen if he could have. His 21 grandchildren: Brooke, Samuel, Ryan, Michael Edward, Susan, Ronald
Jordan, Nicholas, Michael III, Christina, Alexander, Troy, Tyler, Toby, Christian, Patrick, Blake, Travis,
Sienna, Trevor, Nolan, Ava, as well as three great-grandchildren: Lucas, Jacob and Pierre, were the
absolute joys of his life and provided him with the large family he always wanted. He loved them all and
was devoted to watching them grow and develop.

Mike was born in a flat on Russell Street in Detroit, Michigan, with the help of a midwife. He was the
second son of Macedonian immigrants Sotir and Sultana, who came to Detroit in the 1920s. His only
sibling, Peter, died in 2009. While very young, Mike developed an intense love of baseball and could be
found hitting and throwing a ball in the fields of Clinton Elementary, Post Intermediate and Cooley High
School. An All-City athlete, he was on the schools baseball team and also ran track. After graduating
from high school, the Tigers offered Mike a minor league contract. He chose instead to serve his country
and joined the U.S. Marine Corps where he became an expert rifleman and received a medal for his rifle
skills. Mike served from 1948-1952 at Parris Island, Quantico and Pearl Harbor. He took great pride in
serving his country and credited the values and discipline he learned while serving his country as keys to
his success as a businessman and entrepreneur.

After an honorable discharge from the Marines, the Tigers again offered him a minor league contract,
and he was able to fulfill his passion for baseball for four seasons playing shortstop and hitting over
.300. Unfortunately, a knee injury ended his dreams of making it to the Major Leagues. With a wife and
daughter to support at the time, Mike took a job selling awnings door-to-door.

Success in the awning business provided Mike and Marian with the funds to open a little pizza shop in
Garden City, Michigan, on May 8, 1959, called Little Caesars Pizza Treat. Mike had learned to make pizza
while still playing minor league ball, and he would make pizza in the back of Haigs Bar in Detroit during
the off-season. It was during this time that Mike developed a love for pizza almost as great as his love of
baseball.

The single mom-and-pop pizza shop grew into the worlds largest carryout pizza chain, with restaurants
in 20 countries and territories throughout the world. The success with Little Caesars helped Mike and
Marian create other leading brands in the food, sports and entertainment industries.

Mike and Marian purchased the Detroit Red Wings in 1982. They were avid hockey fans and had been
season ticket holders for many years. While the team was known as the Dead Wings at the time, Mike
believed they were a sleeping giant and immediately took charge to turn the team around. By 1997, the
Red Wings won their first Stanley Cup in 42 years, and they went on to win three more. Four Stanley Cup
parades held along Woodward Avenue in Detroit attracted hundreds of thousands of people, many from
the suburbs who had not been to downtown Detroit in decades. Detroit became known as Hockeytown
and brought a sense of pride to the areas hockey fans and the community as a whole.

Throughout Mikes remarkable life, he remained true to his hometown and was a zealous supporter of
Detroit, working tirelessly to help it prosper and to bring pride to the city. In 1988, he purchased the
neglected Fox Theatre and carefully restored it to its original 1928 splendor. He was so excited when the
grand opening was held that he remarked it was like inviting the whole city into his newly decorated
home.

One year later, he moved his Little Caesars world headquarters from the suburbs into the newly
renovated Fox Office Center adjacent to the restored theatre. This was during a time when many
businesses were fleeing the city. Restoration of the theatre and renovation of the office building brought
new life to the area. Those risk-taking moves served as catalysts for other development in the area, and
led the way to an exciting entertainment district in downtown Detroit.

Mike displayed further commitment to the city he loved when he purchased the Detroit Tigers in 1992
and built a new state-of-the-art ballpark for the team. He did everything in his power to make the fan
experience a memorable one. He also cared deeply for his players on both sports teams and took an
active interest in their personal lives and families.
A brand-new ballpark enabled Detroit to successfully host the MLB All-Star Game in 2005 and helped
promote Detroit as a tourist destination. Mike also encouraged the Ford family to bring the Detroit Lions
back to Detroit from the suburbs and build a new stadium right next door to the ballpark by
relinquishing a portion of land to make way for the new stadium. The new football venue allowed
Detroit to host the Super Bowl in 2006. These two national events had a major economic impact on the
city.

Today true to Mikes vision for a bustling downtown area the Ilitch organization is transforming
dozens of blocks of largely underutilized land in Detroit into a special area for everyone in the
community to enjoy. The District Detroit will include office, retail and residential spaces, as well as the
new Little Caesars Arena. To be completed in September of this year, Little Caesars Arena will be the
home of the Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Pistons, as well as world-class entertainment, music and
community events.

Currently, the Ilitch companies collectively employ 23,000 full-time and part-time employees worldwide
and have 371 million customer interactions annually. The Ilitch companies include: Ilitch Holdings, Little
Caesars Pizza, Blue Line Foodservice Distribution, the Detroit Red Wings, the Detroit Tigers, Olympia
Entertainment, Olympia Development, Little Caesars Pizza Kit Fundraising Program, Champion Foods
and MotorCity Casino Hotel. All businesses are headquartered in the Detroit metropolitan area and will
continue to thrive under family ownership.

Mike believed passionately in giving back to the community. As the father of children who played
hockey, Mike wanted to provide other children the opportunity to play the sport as well. So he
established the Little Caesars Amateur Hockey Program in 1968, and it has provided opportunities for
tens of thousands of youngsters to play the great game of hockey over the years. Hundreds have gone
on to play at colleges, universities and in the National Hockey League.

Among his many contributions to others, he established the Little Caesars Love Kitchen in 1985. With
two trucks on the road to serve those in need, these restaurants on wheels have served more than three
million people.
Additionally, inspired by the story of a veteran returning to civilian life, Mike founded the Little Caesars
Veterans Program in 2006. He had read a newspaper story about an Army Sergeant who had tragically
lost both his legs during combat in Iraq. Mike was impressed with the can-do attitude of this veteran.
The Veterans Program that followed provides honorably discharged veterans with financial incentives
and other support to help them open a Little Caesars franchise.

Ilitch Charities and its affiliates, the Detroit Red Wings Foundation and the Detroit Tigers Foundation,
have given tens of millions of dollars in cash and in-kind contributions to deserving organizations across
the community. The logo for the charity features a big heart truly the heart of Mike Ilitch.

Additionally, Mike and Marian have personally gifted nearly $50 million to Detroits Wayne State
University - $8 million to the Department of Surgery and $40 million dedicated to establish the new
Mike Ilitch School of Business, which will train and educate the next generation of the citys great
entrepreneurs. Mike was so excited to see his name on a Detroit institution that he said it felt like being
born all over again.

Mike has received numerous business, cultural, and philanthropic awards, including:
Ellis Island Medal of Honor (1997)
National Hockey League Hall of Fame (2003)
US Hockey Hall of Fame (2004)
Michigan Sports Hall of Fame (2004)
SportsBusiness Journals The Champions: Pioneers and Innovators in Sports Business (2014)
The International Franchise Association Hall of Fame (2016)

In his hometown of Detroit, Mike has been honored for his efforts in the community with the Joe Louis
Brown Bomber Jacket Award, the Distinguished Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Service Award, the
Shining Light Regional Cooperation Award and the Edward H. McNamara Goodfellow of the Year Award.
He was also given the key to the city.

Mike will be most remembered for his strong work ethic, sense of humor, devotion to his loving wife
Marian, his children, family and church, and his endless kindness and love for Detroit. His employees
were like family to him and were treated as such. He took a personal interest in all people. One of his
guiding principles was to love all people, and he did.