Joseph Zilber, the founder and chairman of Milwaukee-based Zilber Ltd. and one of Milwaukee's most significant philanthropists died this morning at the age of 92.

Zilber founded Towne Realty, which is now operated by Zilber Ltd., in 1949. He grew the company from startup into one of the largest real estate development and management firms headquartered in the Midwest.

Zilber was born in Milwaukee and raised in the 2100 block of North 9th Street in his family's residence above the family grocery store.

Zilber graduated from the Marquette University Law School in 1941 after studying business administration at Marquette as an undergraduate.

However instead of law he went into the real estate business. Zilber obtained a real estate salesman license and went to work for George Bockl Inc.

Shortly thereafter, he married Vera Feldman. The couple had three children.

Zilber also served in the U.S. Army from 1942-43.

Zilber's company built thousands of homes in Milwaukee for GIs returning home after World War II. Later, the firm purchased several office buildings in downtown Milwaukee.

As the years went on, Zilber kept expanding the company's scope and its geographic reach. The firm has constructed and purchased apartment buildings, condominium developments, nursing homes, office buildings, industrial buildings, office parks and industrial parks.

When the real estate market was slow, the company did work on government contracts, including the construction of the first gantry at Cape Canaveral.

Seeing the population boom in the South and West, Zilber shifted the company's focus to real estate development projects in those regions, but kept its headquarters in downtown Milwaukee and remained active in southeastern Wisconsin.

In recent years he acquired the former Pabst brewery complex in downtown Milwaukee, which had been vacant for years, and has worked to redevelop it into a mixed-use urban neighborhood.

In his later years Zilber lived in Hawaii, but still kept a home in Milwaukee and spent significant parts of the year here.

He never retired and remained active with the company, playing a hands-on management role as founder and president.

He also became a prominent philanthropist in Milwaukee. In 2008 he began a $50 million initiative to rebuild neighborhoods in Milwaukee. In 2007 he donated $30 million to the Marquette University Law School and $10 to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for the creation of a school of public health.

Zilber was beloved by many of his 250 employees. Several of the company's top managers have worked for him for decades.

"I think (employee longevity) is part of the culture of Zilber Ltd. and Joe Zilber," said James Borris, after he was named the company's chief executive officer last year.

"Joe is the smartest man that I have ever met," executive vice president Robert Braun said last year. "He's creative and he's fun to work with. He cares about his people…He's very entrepreneurial. He has been a risk taker and that means we've gotten involved in a lot of different types of transactions and businesses."

In 2007, Zilber received the Bravo! Lifetime Achievement Award from BizTimes Milwaukee. Click here to read an interview with him when he received the award.

Funeral arrangements for Zilber are pending.