Mike Bernard was a longtime partner at one of the most prominent law firms in Michigan but cared little for the money or status that came with the job.
He measured success in a different way.
He felt people needed to look beyond themselves and be of service to others, friends said. They should be useful. A Catholic, he believed in the Jesuit maxim, “men for others.”
Bernard, who was named one of the 2026 Michiganians of the Year by The Detroit News, embodied those words through a lifetime of service to organizations big and small in Metro Detroit.
Among the boards he served on were the Neighborhood Club in Grosse Pointe, Loyola High School in Detroit, the Detroit Athletic Club and the Detroit Regional Chamber.
“He gave tirelessly to his community,” said Pat Hickey, a former law partner of Bernard’s. “He’s like no one I ever met, a man we all strive to be.”
Bernard, who is receiving the award posthumously, died in February after being struck by a car while cycling in Florida. He was 65.
His absence was immediately felt last month at the Mackinac Policy Conference, where he was a longtime fixture as the Detroit Regional Chamber’s volunteer general counsel since 1999.
Sandy Baruah, CEO of the chamber, which organizes the annual event, said Bernard’s passing took everyone by surprise.
“We are still trying to process the loss,” Baruah said during the conference.
Faith was a big part of his life, said one of his three children, Jack Bernard. It spurred his actions toward his family, business and community.
As long as Jack could remember, his dad flitted from group to group, volunteering his time, despite his job as a corporate attorney at Dykema Gossett in Detroit.
“Mike was a nationally recognized lawyer,” Baruah said.
Bernard taught his three boys that the point of developing a skill wasn’t to make money but to use that talent to benefit others.
You have to give back and to apply those (skills) in environments where you’re helping people,” said Jack. “You’re making the most of those gifts and not just using them for yourself.”
Bernard’s busy schedule didn’t lessen his focus on whatever organization he was helping at the time, according to leaders of the groups. The person he was talking with had his undivided attention. The person’s priorities were Bernard’s priorities.
Bernard was eternally upbeat, always making people feel good, said Jim Hermon, a labor and employment lawyer at Dykema.
“A great guy, eternal optimist, always had a smile on his face,” Hermon said.
The Jesuit creed ran deep in Bernard’s family.
His father, brother and sons all graduated from the University of Detroit Jesuit High School. The one person who didn’t attend there was Mike Bernard.
He preferred Grosse Pointe South because it had a strong swimming program, said his wife, Betsy. He made the varsity team as a ninth grader and went on to compete in college as well.
Bernard’s resolve even extended to the exercise room of the Detroit Athletic Club.
He kept up his grueling exercise routine throughout his life, starting each day with a one-hour workout, friends said.
And woe to the person who ended up sitting next to him on one of the club’s stationary bikes. Try as you might, you could never outlast him, said Derron Sanders, who served with Bernard on the DAC board.
“Either cycling or on the treadmill, Mike would be the last one to get off,” Sanders said. “He was a competitor.”
And also a friend.
Bernard never failed to ask Sanders about his wife and kids, always remembering their names.
Mike Bernard
Age: 65
Occupation: Corporate lawyer, Dykema Gossett in Detroit
Family: Wife Betsy; three sons, Jack, Rudy and Mikey
Education: University of Notre Dame, bachelor of business (accounting); University of Cincinnati, law degree
Why honored: For being an active and longtime volunteer and board member of a plethora of Metro Detroit organizations, ranging from Loyola High School in Detroit to the Detroit Athletic Club to the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Bernard lived the Jesuit maxim: men for others
Reporting by Francis X. Donnelly, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Francis X. Donnelly, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
