Seymour H. Persky, a real estate developer with a passion for great architecture, has died. He was 92.

Persky was a member of JUF’s Board of Directors from 1992-99 and a Golden Giver member of the Jewish United Fund, having donated for 50 consecutive years or more to JUF’s Annual Campaign. He also served on the Boards of the Ida Crown Jewish Academy, Hillel Torah North Suburban Day School, Arie Crown Day School, Associated Talmud Torahs of Chicago, and the Hillels of Illinois. In 1990, Persky made a $1 million gift to The ARK, which named its building after him.

JUF President Steven B. Nasatir was saddened by Persky’s passing. “He was a renaissance man who cared about many different things,” Nasatir said. “High on that list were Israel and the Jewish people. For that, and so many other things, I will remember him with special fondness.”

In his other Jewish communal leadership, Persky was a past Chairman of the Board of Jewish National Fund and past President of the American Jewish Congress. He also served on the Boards of the Israel Cancer Research Foundation, the Anti-Defamation League, Friends of the IDF, Skokie Valley Synagogue, YIVO, and the National Jewish Theater. Additionally, he had leadership roles in Israel Bonds and the Chicago Loop Synagogue. He also paid for the bust of Saul Bellow on display at the Harold Washington Library Center.

A co-founder of Parliament Enterprises, Ltd. Persky was a lawyer, real estate developer, and ardent architectural preservationist. He was a member of the City of Chicago Commission on Chicago Landmarks, of Landmarks Illinois-and of the Society of Architectural Historians, which remembers him as a “great friend and benefactor,” who bought them their home at the landmark James Charnley House. He was a governing member of the Art Institute of Chicago and served on the Board of Overseers of the ITT School of Architecture. Persky even coined the term “Wrigleyville” for the area surrounding Wrigley Field.

Born in 1922 to Russian-Jewish immigrants, Persky grew up in Chicago and attended Hebrew school in Lawndale during the Great Depression. But, when still a pre-teen, he discovered Modern architecture at the Century of Progress Exposition. In 1942, Persky enlisted in the military; he later used the GI Bill to attend Roosevelt and DePaul Universities simultaneously, earning both a BA and JD in 1952.

Persky practiced criminal defense law, and then began to invest in historic buildings; his firm, Parliament Enterprises, eventually owned more than 30 historic buildings. Persky also collected building fragments and drawings by Adler, Sullivan, Wright, and other Prairie School architects.

Persky was preceded in death by his beloved son Jonathan E. Persky. He was survived by his daughter, Abby Persky (Robert Delforge), his grandchildren Madeleine and Connor Delforge, and many nieces, nephews, and cousins. The devoted companion of Bonnie Gilman, he was a father figure to Paul Gilman and Ralph Gilman and grandfather figure to Howard and Ricki Gilman,

Services were held at Weinstein & Piser Funeral Home with interment at Waldheim Cemetery. Contributions in Persky’s memory may be made to Chicago Community Kollel or the Society of Architectural Historians.