January 9, 1956 – March 1, 2003
Detroit native Veronica Perryman Mitchell attended Mumford High School. In a 1995 Detroit Free Press feature, she revealed how HIV helped her turn from a life of addiction. Among her achievements, Mitchell served as AIDS ombudsperson for the City of Detroit, began a women with AIDS support group in C-HAG, and sat on the board of Men of Color. She died from AIDS-related complications at age 47.
Detroit Free Press, March 6, 2003
March 29, 1948 – September 20, 2018
Betty Jane Martin, a lifelong Caledonia resident, graduated from Caledonia High School and earned her MSW from Grand Valley State University. Her career encompassed worked with the YWCA, Pine Rest Christian Hospital, and her brother’s dairy farm. Martin served as board president for Reconciliation Metropolitan Community Church in Grand Rapids where she also played drums in the church band.
October 10, 1953 – December 15, 2019
Toledo, Ohio native Susan Sharon Bright graduated high school in 1971 and worked for Chrysler Motors for 30 years. A University of Michigan sports fan, she also enjoyed biking and fishing. Bright resided in Temperance with her loving wife Betty Jackson.
May 30, 1949 – November 21, 2010
Roger Stanley Reisdorf graduated from Redford Union High School and earned his B.S. from Ferris State University. He held positions with Grandview Nursing Home, McWilliams Credit Reports, and the Detroit Transportation Corporation. In the early 1990s, Reisdorf became active with Affirmations, later served on the board of directors, and helped raise more than $5 million for its new building.
February 3, 1938 – April 4, 2015
Brian Vincent Michael Sullivan of Dearborn was born in the Bronx and lived in New York through high school. He earned his Bachelor’s from Mercy College, served three years in the U.S. Army, and later pursued a Master’s in counseling from Wayne State University to become an addiction therapist. Sullivan was survived by Robert Curtis, his life partner of 48 years.
January 26, 1963 – March 9, 1995
Scott Bernard Amedure moved to Waterford from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania when he was five, left high school at 17 to join the U.S. Army, and later worked as a bartender at Popper’s in Pontiac. In March 1995, two days after Amedure revealed his secret crush on his straight acquaintance Jonathan Schmitz during a taping of the Jenny Jones Show, Schmitz murdered him in his Orion Township mobile home.
May 29, 1944 – April 6, 2005
Martha Charles of Lathrup Village was born in Crawfordsville, Indiana and as a toddle moved to Detroit, where she graduated with the class of 1962 from Cass Tech High School. After earning her B.A. from Western Michigan University, she taught middle and high school in St. Clair Shores. Charles was active in Women Together and co-founded the group Lesbian-A-Sisters. Her partner Sue Brooks survived her.
August 2, 1964 – February 11, 2000
Syracuse, New York native Donald Schroeder attended college in Pennsylvania before moving to Michigan to write for Car & Driver magazine. He was active in the Lambda Car Club and also served as vice president of the AIDS fundraising organization Geared 4 Life. Schroeder and his life partner of seven years Michael Vaughn shared a home in Detroit’s historic Boston-Edison neighborhood.
July 9, 1903 – July 18, 1995
Born in Menominee in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Leo Adams moved in his 20s to Chicago, where he managed the Chicago Theatre. He moved to New York City in 1928 and oversaw the shift from silent to sound for Fox movie houses. Adams later worked as an executive with Macy’s flagship department store. He bequeathed his extensive correspondence with other gay men to the New York Public Library.
New York Times, July 23, 1995
October 26, 1942 – January 15, 2018
Traverse City resident Gwen Sanford grew up in Grand Rapids, studied at Grand Rapids Junior College and Valparasio Technical Institute, and served as a trooper and diving instructor with the Michigan State Police from 1966 to 1992. After retiring, the former Glenn transitioned to Gwen and later served on the board of Friends North. Sanford was survived by her wife Carol Larson and three children.
Michigan LGBTQ Remember 