The Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation, based in Royal Oak, works to advance an environmentally healthy Great Lakes ecosystem and culturally vibrant metro Detroit. To improve the environment, it supports organizations that champion stewardship of the area’s water system, prevention of agricultural runoff, implementation of green stormwater infrastructure, prevention of lead exposure, and improvements in air quality. It also supports the arts, specifically jazz education, and supplies funds for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia research. After returning from serving in World War II, Fred took over his uncle’s coal and lumber business in the late 1940s. By the time he sold the business in 1993, Royal Oak-based Erb Lumber was a multi-state enterprise with 45 locations and 1,300 employees, generating $280 million in sales. Barbara Erb vacationed on the Great Lakes as a child and later became an environmental activist. Fred and Barbara Erb established the foundation in 2007.
