Friends, Family Remember Abe Pollin

Washington Wizards owner Abe Pollin was laid to rest Friday following a private ceremony for family and friends. The 85 year old died Tuesday following a long fight with a rare brain disease.

Pollin is being remembered as a man of the people who poured his heart and his life's earnings into the city he loved.

The people who filled the seats of the Washington Hebrew Congregation came from all corners of our community. Sports moguls and politicians joined everyday workers from the Verizon Center to honor Abe Pollin.

"He walked comfortable among presidents and prime ministers as well as the homeless, and that's what everyone admired about him," said Ted Leonsis, owner of the Washington Capitals, which Pollin used to own.

Abe Pollin earned his fortune building housing which afforded the son of a Russian immigrant the chance to indulge his greatest passion by buying the Washington Bullets basketball team and later the Washington Capitals. He sold the hockey team to Leonsis in 1999. He remembered Pollin wanting more than just money.

"He wanted to know that his baby was in good hands-- to give back to the community," said Leonsis.

He also wanted to win, and former Washington Bullet Bob Perry played on the team the only year they ever won an NBA championship back in 1978.

"He was more excited than anyone else," said Perry. "I'll never forget all those pictures in the locker room. He totally loved it."

But some would say Pollin's construction of the Verizon Center, for which he used his own money and not city funding, was an even greater accomplishment. The center led the city's revitalization efforts, but D.C. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton says Pollin was worried about those who were getting priced out of living in this new, thriving city.
"I've worked with Abe on development in the city's poorest neighborhoods where he's given a whole building that is now going up," Rep. Norton said. "Abe didn't know how to stop giving and the least we can do is give him our respect."

"He wasn't about making headlines," said Sheila Johnson. "He was about passion-- he just really loved his city."

And he really loved his family. It was said during the service that Pollin didn't work weekends so he could spend it with those he loved. At noon on Tuesday, Pollin sent a bouquet of yellow roses to his wife of 64 years, Irene. He died an hour later.

The rabbi says the card was a simply an offering of thanks from a man who was grateful for all he had and for his ability to share it with others.