September 28, 1937 – September 2, 1985
A native of Dayton, Ohio, Clifford William Kelley worked as a regional sale representative for Detroit Edison and was involved in Wayne County politics. While separated from his wife, he was found murdered in his Royal Oak apartment. Known as “John” in the gay world, Kelley was last seen leaving an adult bookstore near Woodward and Six Mile in Detroit with another male.
Detroit Free Press, September 6, 1985
April 5, 1944 – December 10, 1985
Born in Elmhurst, Illinois, James Martin earned his B.S. and M.S. from the University of Illinois before earning his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1969. After a year clerking for a federal appeals judge, Martin joined the UM Law School and had a distinguished 15-year career there while living a discreet gay life in Ann Arbor. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 41.
July 30, 1959 – July 31, 1985
A native of Canada, Mark Joseph Osaer was a member of the Lincoln Park High School class of 1977. Following graduation, Osaer moved to Houston, Texas. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 26.
August 15, 1914 – December 23, 1985
A native of Charleston, South Carolina, Leon Alfred DeMeunier grew up in Detroit and earned a degree in business administration from the University of Detroit, after which he operated his own tax and accounting service. He chaired the Detroit Congress of Racial Equality in the early 1960s and was active in the early gay organization ONE in Detroit.
No known obituary
July 22, 1943 – August 5, 1985
William John Mathieson grew up in Grove City, Pennsylvania and attended graduate school at Michigan State University where he earned a Master’s in Spanish in 1967. He later worked as an instructor at San Francisco Community College. He died of complications from AIDS at age 42.
No known obituary.
July 10, 1961 – December 13, 1985
Raised in the small town of Ossineke, Roy Reinholz graduated from Alpena High School in 1980, earned his B.A. from James Madison College at Michigan State University in 1983, and later attended Hunter City College in New York. He died of complications from AIDS at age 24.
Alpena News, December 14, 1985
February 25, 1954 – May 4, 1985
Rick Rapaport worked as a janitor, gas station attendant, cab driver, waiter, cook, bus driver, and for two years as wrestling coach at the Michigan School for the Blind. After dropping out of the University of Michigan in 1974, he visited 45 states and crossed the U.S. fifteen times, returning to school to finish his B.A. at Michigan State University in 1982 with a degree in journalism. He died of complications from AIDS at age 31.
Lansing State Journal, May 6, 1985
October 13, 1917 – December 6, 1985
Chicago puppeteer Franklin Burr Tillstrom, creator of Kukla and Ollie on the television kid’s show Kukla, Fran, and Ollie, owned a summer home in Saugatuck.
September 23, 1918 – August 10, 1985
A founder of the Lansing chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, Jerry Rapaport was also involved with the Lansing Association for Human Rights and the Lansing Area AIDS Network. She was mother of activist Rick Rapaport.
October 19, 1913 – January 16, 1985
Originally from Sault Ste. Marie, Melva Earhart operated the State Bar in Flint from 1948 until her death at age 71 in 1985.
Michigan LGBTQ Remember 