Shepard Broad

Shepard Broad (July 8, 1906 – November 6, 2001) was a Belarusian-American banker, lawyer and philanthropist.

Early life and education Shepard Broad was originally born in Pinsk, Russia as Szmuel Bobrowice in 1906. Bobrowice lost his mother at the age of three and became an orphan at ten years old, when his father died in World War I.

He trained as a tailor's apprentice, but Eastern Europe offered little opportunity to a young Jewish boy. At the age of 14, he joined the mass migration to North America. Hoping to land in New York, he ended up in Quebec. Canadian immigration authorities planned to send him back to Russia, but his plight came to the attention of Adolph Stark, president of the Canadian-Jewish Immigration Society. Stark offered to adopt him, but Bobrowice was determined to find his uncle in New York. Stark gave him a train ticket, and Bobrowice made it to New York in 1920, knowing no English at the time.

Career From 1928 through 1940, Broad practiced law in New York City.

Bay Harbor Islands, Florida In 1945, he Broad two undeveloped mangrove swamp islands off 96th Street on Miami Beach. With his own funds and with down payments on the sale of lots, Broad filled in the islands and was joined in the venture by Benjamin N. Kane.

In 1995, he donated $174,350 for computer equipment at the new Ruth K. Broad Bay Harbor Elementary School, which was named for his late wife.