February 24, 1949 – March 30, 2000
Detroit native and world-traveling hippie, Elizabeth Kaiser interrupted her long lesbian relationship with physician Margaret Poscher to nurse her mother and raise her son. She died from breast cancer at age 51.
Author: michiganlgbtqremember
Irma Wolf
January 20, 1921 – April 16, 1998
Irma Wolf grew up in Mount Clemens and worked as a stenographer and sales clerk during World War II. After the war, she moved to Los Angeles where, in the 1950s, she served as editor of ONE magazine under the name Ann Carll Reid.
Burton Fogelman
September 14, 1945 – November 4, 2012
A founder of the Motor City Business Forum and Southfield podiatrist, Burton Fogelman received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Detroit Area Pride Banquet in 2001.
Burr Tillstrom
October 13, 1917 – December 6, 1985
Chicago puppeteer Franklin Burr Tillstrom, creator of Kukla and Ollie on the television kid’s show Kukla, Fran, and Ollie, owned a summer home in Saugatuck.
Babe Franklin
November 25, 1909 – December 12, 1973
A native of Springfield, Illinois, Cicilene “Babe” Franklin worked as a cook and co-operated Ellis and Franklin Printing with her longtime partner Ruth Ellis, with whom she also co-hosted house parties that added vitality to Detroit’s black LGBTQ life in the 1940s and ‘50s.
No known obituary.
Robert Miller
May 15, 1953 – November 24, 2010
Robert Miller, a 57-year-old Home Depot employee, was slain in his Warren home by a young man he met on a dating website.
Mylen Jenkins
October 2, 1991 – October 5, 2015
An aspiring model who hoped to someday become a dentist, Detroiter Mylen Jenkins was murdered in a carjacking three days after turning 24.
Cynthia Dawkins
June 13, 1952 – April 6, 1986
Born and raised in Detroit, Sindy Dawkins enjoyed writing, skiing, and shooting pool. She served on the board for the Performers Awards of Detroit and held the title of Ms. Gigi’s 1980-81.
Marvin Eisenberg
August 19, 1922 – May 18, 2016
Renowned art historian Marvin Eisenberg hosted discreet parties at the center of Ann Arbor’s gay social scene during the 1950s, a time when university and city officials frowned on any open homosexuality.
Phyllis Wyrick
November 3, 1941 – October 14, 2005
Oak Park resident Phyllis Wyrick held a Masters from Wayne State and enjoyed a long career with the Girl Scouts and the YWCA. In the mid-1990s she served on the board for Affirmations Community Center.
Michigan LGBTQ Remember 