If you were to make a checklist to determine the ideal team owner in professional sports, Mike Ilitch would check off all the boxes.

The longtime chairman of the NHL's Detroit Red Wings and MLB's Tigers, who died Friday at the age of 87, was everything one could ask for in a franchise owner in an age when so many have made headlines for the wrong reasons.

Related: Hockey world pays tribute to Mike Ilitch

John Spano essentially tried to con the NHL into letting him buy the New York Islanders. Donald Sterling was ousted as Los Angeles Clippers owner after it was revealed that he made racist remarks.

Jeffrey Loria helped destroy the Montreal Expos, then effectively robbed taxpaying Miami Marlins fans of millions. James Dolan has embroiled himself in scandal after scandal as dual boss of the New York Knicks and Rangers.

Over the years, while several of his contemporaries committed misdeeds that forced them out entirely, landed them in hot water, or simply went unpunished, Ilitch quietly went about his business - literally and figuratively - setting the bar for excellence as a dual team owner in a mid-sized American market.

The founder of the Little Caesars Pizza empire took over the Red Wings in 1982, transforming them from a struggling squad into a club that would win four championships in an 11-year span and make the playoffs for 25 straight seasons, the longest active streak in pro sports.

He bought the Tigers in 1992, and they'd go on to make two World Series appearances during his tenure and play in the postseason four straight times from 2011-14.

But it wasn't just the success of his teams. It was that unlike so many of his fellow owners in the sports world, he was never the story. The only times he made headlines were when he was accepting the Stanley Cup from NHL commissioner Gary Bettman or facilitating the construction of new stadiums for both of his teams.

He was the rare sports owner who didn't meddle.

By all accounts, he let his sport-specific leadership groups make their own decisions, didn't interfere with their expertise, and the franchises reaped the rewards of his patience.

Ilitch was also Detroit personified, and he never betrayed it.

The self-made businessman was born, raised, and died in the Motor City. Like Berry Gordy and the Ford family before him, Ilitch made the city proud by turning a successful enterprise into a source of pride (or two, in this case) for the entire community.

"He was more than a successful businessman," NHL.com's Nick Cotsonika wrote Friday night. "He was a dreamer who cared about his teams and his community, not just his bottom line."

He was also a genuine sports fan and a former athlete who played in the Tigers' minor-league system and who started the Little Caesars minor hockey program that eventually produced several NHL players.

But most of all, he was a good person. Just look what he did for Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press when the reporter was a young child.

Ilitch was the most uncommon of sports owners in that he did everything right, under the intense scrutiny of fans and media.

While other owners created controversies, Ilitch made a city proud, two times over.

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