April 2, 1949 – April 9, 2022
Artist, educator, Detroit native, and Royal Oak resident Monica Mary Molinaro graduated from Troy High School in 1967. She later attended the College for Creative Studies and earned a graduate degree at Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1983. Her paintings and collages were showcased at such venues as Cade Gallery, CCS, Gallery 911, Flip, and posthumously as part of the Mighty Real/Queer Detroit exhibit.
April 6, 1949 – September 28, 2021
Lansing resident Ilona Rae Sabo-Shuler was born in Grand Rapids, graduated from South High School, attended Calvin College, and later studied at Garrett Theological Seminary in Illinois. After serving as pastor of Williamston United Methodist Church from 1982 to 1994, she became a real estate agent in East Lansing. Sabo-Schuler was preceded in death in 2020 by her partner of 42 years Jean Fillingham.
May 27, 1949 – September 5, 2020
Sandra Lee Peckens of Harbor Springs was born in Ann Arbor and grew up in Otsego. She earned her B.A. in social work from Michigan State University in 1971 and went on for her MSW, also at MSU. Peckens career took her to hospitals in Metro Detroit and Northern Michigan Hospital in Petoskey. She and her longtime partner Sally Hood were united in a civil union in 2008 and legally married in 2010.
December 5, 1949 – October 27, 2004
Born in Mount Clemens, Terrance Jacob “Terry” Romatz of Fraser graduated with the class of 1968 from Fraser High School. He later worked at Sears and was self-employed cleaning houses. Romatz was also a longtime Metra magazine employee who organized the Metra Picnic and delivered the publication at bar throughout Metro Detroit. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 54.
December 13, 1949 – January 13, 2021
Originally from Iowa, Gladwin resident Linda Sue Caldwell taught high school health in Wisconsin and later at Ogemaw High in West Branch. She was also an athletic trainer and volleyball coach. Caldwell and her wife and partner of 38 years Susan Hightower also ran the Twisted Oak Tree Farm with an easement arranged through Little Forks Conservancy.
April 24, 1949 – October 19, 2019
Phyllis Terry Glanz was born in Detroit, was a member of the Southfield High School class of 1967, and earned her B.A. from the University of Michigan in 1971. She later moved to New York and traveled the world in a global career in shipping and sales. Glanz and her life partner of 25 years Sara Mayes were married in 2013.
September 27, 1949 – February 1, 2014
Norma Jean Andres graduated with the class of 1967 from Chippewa High School in Clinton Township and earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Wayne State University. She worked as an EMT, hospital attendant, and vocational counselor before heading Project Hope, which provided HIV/AIDS Services in Detroit. Andres was a supporter of Affirmations and the Ruth Ellis Center.
October 10, 1949 – January 15, 1995
Joseph Mattingley Zendell coordinated programs for the Michigan Council for the Arts in Detroit from 1974 to 1981. Active in the Association of Suburban People and the Motor City Business Forum, he also served as an early financial officer with the Michigan Organization for Human Rights. In 1982, Zendell moved to Illinois to lead the Evanston Arts Council. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 45.
December 4, 1949 – May 17, 1993
Born in Flint, Frank Bradford McMinn, who went by Brad, graduated from Grand Blanc High School in 1968 and earned his B.A. in history from the University of Michigan-Flint in 1972. Following college, McMinn taught school in Flint until moving in 1978 to Washington, DC, where he worked in the national headquarters of the American Red Cross. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 43.
November 6, 1949 – July 14, 1988
Longtime Lansing resident Joseph Martin “Joe” Courter graduated from John H. Gabriels High School and served in the U.S. Air Force from 1968 to 1981. Following his military service, Courter worked for General Telephone Company and, for the last two years of his life, resided in Alma. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 38.
Alma Morning Sun, July 21, 1988
Michigan LGBTQ Remember 