November 30, 1955 – January 19, 2005
William Arthur Popps was born in the small Upper Peninsula town of Ewen, graduated with the class of 1973 from Marquette Senior High School, and earned a degree in theater from Northern Michigan University. Popps was co-owner with Brian Thorsen of Club Xpress in Escanaba, the only gay bar in the UP, from 1992 to 2002.
July 31, 1955 – November 8, 2021
Bloomfield Hills resident and Detroit native Treva Bell Bass graduated from Cass Tech High School and pursued acting in Los Angeles. On returning to Detroit, Bass attended Specs Howard University and became a chief engineer with her family’s radio stations. Bass and June Washington, her partner of 33 years, gave generously to Affirmations, the Ruth Ellis Center, Hotter Than July, and other causes.
October 4, 1955 – November 4, 1990
Detroit native William Robert “Bill” Corby II attended Ferris State University and was employed with the Chrysler Corporation. Active in the leather community, he was DJ at the R&R Saloon and the Detroit Eagle. For a time in the mid-1980s, Corby and his lover Chuck Turza worked as stewards and waiters for a Hawaiian cruise line. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 35.
September 16, 1955 – April 19, 1993
Dallas Skeet Williams Jr., from Detroit, moved to San Francisco to live a more openly gay life. He worked as a nurse and a massage therapist and became involved in modeling, bodybuilding, doing drag, photography, and performing in adult videos. As a revolutionary HIV+ union activist, he protested with ACT UP and fought police brutality. Williams lost his life to diabetes.
April 22, 1955 – September 12, 1989
Kenneth John Kammann grew up on Detroit’s East Side and graduated in 1973 from Bishop Gallagher High School in Harper Woods. After attending Macomb Community College, Kallmann moved to San Francisco where he had a successful career in sales and co-founded the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Chorus. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 34.
Detroit Free Press, September 16, 1989
November 18, 1955 – May 18, 2018
Detroit native Margaret Irene “Peggy” McNichol graduated from Mercy High School in Farmington Hills in 1973 and earned her B.S. in nursing from the University of Michigan in 1977. Following graduation, she relocated to the West Coast and lived in Seattle, Oakland, and Portland. McNichol went to medical for her M.D. and became a family care physician. She was survived by her wife Sue Sell.
September 2, 1955 – October 22, 2009
Randall Lee Seager, familiar to fans as Bucky, was longtime DJ in the 1980s and early 19980s at the Copa nightclub in Flint. He grew up in Burton Township and Mundy Township and graduated in 1973 from Grand Blanc High School, where he sang in the Mixed Chorus and the Acapella Choir. Later in life Seager worked as a cashier at Kroger.
June 17, 1955 – June 27, 2005
Detroit native Regi Thompson worked as a party promoter before opening his own gay club, Regine’s Off the Park, in 1997 on the city’s east side. When a fire gutted the club, Thompson rebuilt and expanded the space into a premiere dance spot. He later renamed the bar the Palladium.
September 18, 1955 – September 25, 1993
Born in Jackson, Timothy Gerald Warner shared a home in Ferndale with his life companion David Wyka and worked for Consumers Power. Warner served as president of the Ferndale Chamber of Commerce, sat on the city’s Beautification Commission, and volunteered with Wellness Networks. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 38.
April 26, 1955 – September 27, 1991
Born in Detroit, Wilmer Gunther Jr. worked for many years at the Deck in Detroit and performed locally as Hummin Helen. Gunther also worked as a floral designer. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 36.
Michigan LGBTQ Remember 