Emmet Tracy Jr., retired metro Detroit businessman, dies at 85
Tracy supported a youth hockey club that produced several professional players.
Emmet Tracy Jr., retired metro Detroit businessman, dies at 85 Tracy supported a youth hockey club that produced several professional players. Check out this story on Freep.com: https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/wayne/2018/11/30/emmet-tracy-jr-obituary/2165174002/
Detroit Free Press staff Published 9:43 p.m. ET Nov. 30, 2018
Emmet Eugene Tracy, Jr., a retired businessman from Grosse Pointe Farms, died Nov. 24, 2018, at age 85.(Photo: Family photo)
In the 1980s, Emmet Eugene Tracy, Jr., was one of the first people in his neighborhood to have an in-car phone.
The businessman from Grosse Pointe Farms was passionate about emerging technology. He was also known for his humble generosity, deep Catholic faith, love of good wine and support of a youth hockey organization that produced several professional players.
Tracy died Nov. 24 at age 85.
Tracy attended University of Detroit High School and the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. before earning his law degree from the University of Michigan in 1958. He practiced law for the National Bank of Detroit and later became a co-founding partner of Fenton, Nederlander, Tracy and Dodge.
Tracy had a keen interest in politics. He advised several local political campaigns and served as special counselor to Michigan governors George Romney and William Milliken.
Four years after marrying Marilyn (Mickey) Hallett in 1971, Tracy transitioned from law to become executive vice president of Genuine Parts Distributors, his family's automotive parts remanufacturing business. He succeeded his father as president in 1992. Under Tracy's leadership, the company grew from a local distributor to a nationally recognized remanufacturer.
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Tracy also served as vice president for Alma Products Co., a clutch and distributor manufacturer, from 1975 to 1996.
While at Genuine Parts Distributors, Tracy strongly championed the company's successful youth hockey organization. Over 15 years, it produced two-and-a-half dozen players who went on to the National Hockey League, said Tracy's son, Tim Tracy.
"He was responsible for finding and bringing in the top coaches," he said. "He developed a reputation of being one of the best teams to play for in Michigan travel youth hockey."
Tracy served on the Detroit Library Commission for 17 years and as vice chairman of the SOCK fundraiser for the Capuchin Soup Kitchen for 15 years.
He had a big heart, often staying up late on his computer to make anonymous online donations to people and organizations in need.
"He said one of his great personal virtues is you have to act with charity, but you don't advertise or do it for your own gain," Tim Tracy said.
He described his father as "considerate and very jovial, but the same time, he wasn't showy."
Tracy served as a commissioner of the Michigan Bar Association and president of the Holy Cross Club of Michigan. He was past chairman of the Grosse Pointe Club and belonged to the Bayview Yacht Club and The Detroit Athletic Club.
Tracy attended Mass regularly and loved to sing loudly in church — even though he may not have had the best singing voice. He had been a member of St. Paul on the Lake Catholic Church since 1971, and also belonged to St. Edward's parish in Palm Beach, Fla., where he had a home.
Tim Tracy said his father "invited the Holy Spirit in his daily life and used it to make everyone's lives around him better."
Even as his health failed, Tracy's devotion to his wife never dimmed. She spent every day by his side at the hospital.
"However much pain he was in, he would always find the energy to lift his head up and kiss her goodnight and tell her how much he loved her," Tim Tracy said.
Along with his wife, Tracy is survived by his four children and five-grandchildren.
A funeral Mass was held Nov. 29 at St. Paul on the Lake Catholic Church in Grosse Pointe Farms. A.J. Desmond & Sons handled funeral arrangements.
The family suggests memorials to Monastery of St. Therese (Discalced Carmelite Nuns of Detroit), The Michael Pierce Fund at the College of the Holy Cross, Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Pope Francis Center and Guest House.
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