May 1, 1923 – January 11, 1986
In the early 1940s, Frederick Strowan Robertson attended the University of Michigan, where he roomed with W.H. Auden’s lover Chester Kallman. Robertson finished his B.A. at the University of British Columbia then returned to Ann Arbor to earn his M.A. at UM. He was active in community theater and gay social circles there in the 1950s. In later life, he worked for the National Film Board of Canada.
Montreal Gazette, January 22, 1986
January 12, 1966 – October 25, 2019
Tara Louise Kelley was born in Flint, graduated from Bentley High School in Burton, and served six years in the U.S. Navy. She later earned her Bachelor’s at the University of Michigan-Flint, served in the National Guard, and for 19 years worked as a corrections officer with the State of Michigan. Kelley and her longtime partner Angelina Winn were found dead in their Kingsley home in a tragic murder-suicide.
February 18, 1951 – November 2, 1989
Donald Lee “Don” DeMorrow Jr. was born in and grew up in Benton Harbor. Following high school, from 1969 to 1971, he served as a corpsman in the U.S. Navy. Three years later he settled in California. DeMorrow met his lover Hess Davison in 1979 and the two shared a home in Guernesville, north of San Francisco. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 38.
November 27, 1953 – January 13, 1993
James Ernest Moyski was born in Detroit, graduated in 1971 from Walled Lake Western High School, and earned his B.S. from Eastern Michigan University. He worked as a licensed cosmetologist, was active in theater and dance, and resided in Ferndale with his lover William Markel. Moyski also performed for 8 years with the Detroit Together Men’s Chorus. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 39.
January 11, 1970 – October 25, 2019
Angelina Marie Winn graduated with the class of 1988 from St. Francis High School in Traverse City. After earning her Bachelor’s degree, she went on to have a 20-year career as a corrections officer with the Michigan Department of Corrections. Winn and her longtime partner Tara Kelley were found dead in their Kingsley home in a tragic murder-suicide.
December 13, 1957 – May 9, 2000
The owner and operator of Boomers Deli, Carol Jane Newberg was a 1976 graduate of Dearborn High School and went on to become one of Royal Oak’s most beloved business women. Through the last year and a half of her life, as she battled cancer, Newberg was cared for by her close-knit circle of friends. She was survived by her partner Gail Green.
October 9, 1990 – September 3, 2018
Born in Detroit, Melissa Silvia Zicarelli of Lansing earned her B.S. in Spanish and linguistics and her M.A. in teaching English to speakers of other languages from Central Michigan University. She later worked as director of preschool enrichment at Okemos Public Montessori. In November 2017, Zicarelli was united in marriage with Katherine VanArdsall.
September 29, 1957 – January 8, 1994
Detroit native Jeffrey Louis Schoch graduated with the class of 1975 from Henry Ford High School and later attended Tri-State University in Indiana. Schoch moved to Texas in 1980 and worked as a seller for a meat broker in San Antonio before returning to Michigan to live with his mother in the last months of his life. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 36.
Detroit Free Press, January 14, 1994
August 8, 1948 – January 13, 2008
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, James Hendricks “Jim” Posante Jr. moved to Michigan at age 12 and attended Milford High School in Highland before moving to Ann Arbor in 1966. He taught at Greenhills School for 32 years and for four decades was driving force in local theater in the community and at the University of Michigan. Posante was survived by a daughter and by Charles Sutherland, his partner of 36 years.
March 23, 1960 – March 8, 2020
Longtime African American LGBTQ activist and Chicago resident Marcus Zohntell Loveless graduated from Redford High School in 1978 and earned his Bachelor’s from Wayne State University. In 1988, he helped form the Michigan Lesbian/Gay Democratic Caucus. Loveless was later an instrumental force with the Detroit Area Gay/Lesbian Anti-Violence Project and active in the founding of Affirmations.
Michigan LGBTQ Remember 