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The Fred A. Erb Arboretum is a park located behind the Royal Oak Senior Center.  It has been under development since 2007.  The long range plan for our arboretum is to create a collection of native trees/plants that are not found in Tenhave Woods.

Below: John Erb plants a tree in honor of his father at the dedication of the Fred A. Erb Arboretum on April 27, 2023.

ABOUT FRED A ERB

Fred A. Erb was born in Detroit in 1923, graduated from Cranbrook School, and studied at the University of Michigan. He joined the Army Enlisted Reserve in 1943 and served in active duty. After the war, Fred married Barbara Morley and resumed his education at U of M. He graduated with a business degree in 1947 and went directly to work at his uncle’s lumber and coal business in Royal Oak – the Erb-Kidder Lumber Company. The day he started, his uncle handed the business over to him, placing Fred – just 24 years old – at the helm of one store with seven employees. Under his leadership over the next decades, Erb Lumber became Michigan’s largest lumber supplier. When the business sold in 1993, it had 45 locations, 1,300 employees, and $280 million in sales.

Fred and Barbara had four children and shared a deeply personal philanthropic journey. Highlights of their many charitable efforts include establishing the Frederick A. and Barbara M. Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise at U of M in 1996 and creating the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation in 2007 to strengthen water quality, environmental health and justice, and sustainable business in the Great Lakes region; support arts and jazz education in metro Detroit; and fund Alzheimer’s disease research. Fred died at home in 2013 after a 12-year battle with Alzheimer’s.