Brick wins Distinguished Service Award

Mark Urban, The Record-Eagle, Traverse City, Mich.
·3 min read

Mar. 2—TRAVERSE CITY — Longtime Realtor Bob Brick always had to have an answer ready when his late mother would ask the question.

With Mary Jean Brick's example of service before self, Bob Brick has something else in common with his mother.

Brick, the broker/owner of Re/Max Bayshore Properties, was named the 2022 winner of Traverse Connect's Distinguished Service Award. Presented annually since 1929, it's the same civic award Mary Jean won in 1991.

"Her saying everyday was, 'What did you do for someone else today?'" Brick recalled. "All of my kids and family are just spectacular human beings, but we always had to have that answer ready."

Brick will be honored at the Distinguished Service Award Luncheon at the Great Wolf Lodge on May 3 at 11 a.m.

Brick said he received the phone call on Friday that he was the 2022 recipient of the Distinguished Service Award.

"I was shocked; absolutely shocked," an emotional Brick said Wednesday morning. "I had no idea. I had no idea I was even nominated.

"There were a lot of letters written in support and that was pretty special. I'll hold those to my heart forever."

Susie Janis, a past recipient of the DSA, said the honor for her friend is well deserved.

"I can testify that Bob Brick's personal and professional ethos comes from a place of doing the right thing for his family and his community," Janis said in a release. "Having come from a legacy Traverse City family, Bob grew up with both of his parents emphasizing that genuine, heartfelt values and authenticity were key in developing oneself.

"Bob has carried these learning tools in every aspect of his life ... his faith, his family, his education and his community."

The same day he received the call about the award, Brick said he was reluctant to answer the phone. Brick had his server hacked and lost some 15,000 emails (some of which he got back) and 3,000 contacts.

"It went from muck to superb," Brick said, adding that he is proud to stand with the others on the DSA recipient list. "It was unbelievable."

Among some of Brick's accomplishments cited in the release were "decades of volunteer service to nonprofit organizations and foundations include leadership roles" on the Northwestern Michigan College Board of Trustees, NMC Foundation Board, YMCA Board, Venture North Board, BrickWays Board of Directors and Traverse Area Foundation Board.

He was also part of the Traverse Area Foundation's work to fund and remove industrial buildings from West Grand Traverse Bay and establish the Open Space and was co-chair of the Great Lakes Campus Capital Campaign to establish NMC's Great Lakes Campus. Brick, who discovered rugby while playing football for legendary coach John Gagliardi at Saint John's University (Minnesota), also founded the Traverse Bay Blues Rugby Club in 1974.

Brick began a 50-year real estate career in Traverse City in 1973 after graduating with a degree in economics from Saint John's. He co-founded Re/Max Bayshore Properties in 1984 and worked alongside two of his children and their spouses.

He was named one of the top 1,500 Realtors in the country by Real Trends Magazine. Brick estimates he has been a part of 5,600 properties and $540 million in sales.

"I've been a part of some of the biggest properties in the state of Michigan and some of the smallest properties in the state of Michigan," he joked. "And everything in between."

Bob lives on Old Mission Peninsula with his wife, Nancy. They have four children and nine grandchildren.

Tickets for the Distinguished Service Award Luncheon are $50 and $35 for Traverse Connect investors/members. Reserved tables of eight are available for $300.