September 28, 1956 – June 1, 2017
Monroe native James Asher graduated from Monroe High School in 1974 and went on to undergraduate studies at The Ohio State University and graduate studies at California State. Prior to moving to California, he played professional tennis through racquet clubs in Bloomfield Hills and Rochester Hills. In later years he coached and taught high school English. He was survived by his partner Brent Sweer.
October 1, 1956 – July 2, 2021
Born in Flint, Denis Christopher-Ryan graduated from Southwestern High School in 1974. He held retail and bank jobs before working at Genesee County Mental Health, where he retired after 20 years of service. In the mid-1990s, he served as a DJ at the short-lived gay nightclub Studio 910. Christopher-Ryan moved to Las Vegas in 2001 and held a second career in the hospitality industry.
November 9, 1956 – December 16, 2020
Patricia Mae Woods, known to loved ones as “Patty Cakes,” was born in Detroit and graduated with the class of 1974 from Central High School. She attended the Michigan Barber School and worked in area nursing homes before going into business owning and operating Woods Home Improvement. For many years Woods attended Full Truth Fellowship Church.
September 28, 1956 – February 22, 2021
Otisville resident Lauriejane Clare Smith was born in Flint, grew up in Davison, and graduated with the class of 1974 from Davison High School. After completing the criminal justice program at Mott Community College, she worked as a park ranger and later as a patrol deputy and paramedic for the Genesee County Sheriff. In 2015, Smith married her partner Patricia Lawrence-Smith, who died in 2019.
October 2, 1956 – June 6, 1998
Timothy John Warady was born in Detroit and attended Lincoln Park High School. Diagnosed as HIV+ in the late 1980s, Warady became a tireless AIDS activist, volunteering and working with Friends Alliance, the NAMES Project, Wellness House, and other groups. He and his partner Robert Whitney shared a home in Lincoln Park. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 41.
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
February 19, 1956 – March 14, 1999
George Edmund Potts, resident and booster of the Palmer Park neighborhood in Detroit was born in Highland Park and worked for many years in administration at Henry Ford Hospital. He later worked as a grant writer for the Detroit Department of Parks and Recreation. Potts was a familiar customer at Menjo’s.
November 17, 1956 – February 21, 1995
Mitch Thomas, also known as Thomas Robert White, was born in Flint, graduated in the Carman High School class of 1974, and served in the U.S. Air Force. White was employed for many years by Abbott’s Meats but was better known as a painter, sculptor, and regular performer at the Michigan Renaissance Festival. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 38.
Flint Journal, February 23, 1995
January 6, 1956 – October 29, 2014
Saginaw native Thomas Lohr Jr. graduated from Eisenhower High School and earned a B.A. in marketing at Michigan State University in 1979. After a successful career in advertising in Chicago, he joined his life partner Roger Boike in operating Groundworkes, a landscaping business in Lakeside, Michigan. Lohr was also actively involved in Chicago’s LGBTQ community, participating in two AIDS Rides bicycle fundraisers.
January 29, 1956 – January 20, 2011
West Bloomfield resident and University of Michigan football fan Heather Louise Higgins hosted popular Port of Call parties at her home on Middle Straits Lake, enjoying water skiing and riding on her pontoon. Since 2003, she was the owner of Tis Herself Entertainment. Higgins died from cancer at age 54.
Lesbian Connection, July/August 2011
Michigan LGBTQ Remember 