Alphonse Lucarelli, champion of Detroit Opera, dies at 83

ALPHONSE “AL” LUCARELLI, a retired managing partner of Ernst & Young L.L.P. who chaired major fundraising campaigns for the Detroit Opera among other civic endeavors, died May 14 at 83.

Lucarelli served on the boards and executive committees of the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce, the St. John Health System (board chair), the College for Creative Studies, United Way of Southeastern Michigan, the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. and CATCH (Caring Athletes Team for Children’s and Henry Ford Hospitals). He was also a co-founder and rst chairman of the Detroit Regional Partnership, a public-private entity formed by the Detroit Regional Chamber to attract international investment and business to southeast-

Al Lucarelli

ern Michigan. Lucarelli led the campaign to raise $12 million from businesses and governments to fund the rst three years’ operating budgets. Lucarelli may be best known for his work with the Detroit Opera, joining the Board of Trustees in 1992, and the Board of Directors in 1993. He served on the corporate fundraising and nance committees and would later chair the nominating and governance and development committees.

In response to the 2008 national recession, which was particularly challenging for Detroit, Lucarelli worked alongside his friend and then chairman of the board, Rick Williams, in a campaign to save the opera company from nancial ruin by raising $11 million in cash in just 140 days. In 2022, he again provided leadership for a $7.5 million campaign in support of the initial phase to raise $15 million designed to improve accessibility to the Detroit Opera House.

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