Dan Gilbert 'more engaged each and every day,' could make public appearance soon

Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert, who suffered a serious stroke in May, is “more engaged each and every day” with his mortgage empire and could make a public appearance in February, one of his top lieutenants said Wednesday.

“He’s getting into the office more,” Quicken Loans CEO Jay Farner told reporters at Detroit Golf Club after a news conference touting the PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic. “We’re talking to Dan on a regular basis now. … So it’s great to see him more engaged each and every day and I know that will continue.”

Gilbert, who turns 58 on Friday, has made few public appearances since suffering a stroke a month before the inaugural Rocket Mortgage Classic in June. On Dec. 22, the first night of Chanukah, he attended the ninth annual menorah lighting event Menorah in the D at Campus Martius in Detroit.

Farner hinted that Gilbert could make a public appearance either on or before Feb. 21, when he will be honored at the MGM Grand Detroit Casino as Crain’s Detroit Business inaugural Newsmaker Hall of Famer.

[ Gilbert sends video to Quicken Loans employees during stroke recovery in Aug. ]

“I imagine sometime fairly soon,” Farner said of Gilbert’s expected public appearance. “I saw an article I think from Crain’s about some newsmaker activities that are occurring and I’m hopeful that Dan will be out to kind of talk about that soon.”

Gilbert did not attend the Rocket Mortgage Classic last year, but Farner expects him this year’s tournament, which runs May 25-31 at Detroit Golf Club.

“Yeah, I would imagine Dan will be here,” Farner said, “and I know he’ll want to kind of see what’s going on and meet golfers and those sorts of things.”

Contact Carlos Monarrez at cmonarrez@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez.