March 3, 1945 – December 6, 1992
Native Detroiter Bruce Leonard Allen attended Lutheran West High School. He was a member of Tribe and a co-founder of Baccus and worked as a bartender at the R&R, the E-Ramp, and Ruby’s. Allen also performed as Tracy Daye, notably as a member of the house cast at Gigi’s, receiving the Performers Awards of Detroit Lifetime Achievement in 1992. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 47.
June 25, 1959 – October 17, 1992
Bruce Michael Andrews was born in Detroit and attended school in Troy and Sterling Heights. He worked for a time for a construction firm and on the assembly line for Ford Motors before taking a position as maintenance supervisor for a senior living complex. Andrews also tended bar part-time at the Gas Station. At age 33, he was found murdered in his Sterling Heights home.
September 20. 1953 – December 12, 1992
Detroit native Allen Wallace majored in art history at Wayne State University and led protests in the 1970s to save the MacKenzie House, an effort that gave birth to Preservation Wayne. Wallace later worked with the Martha Graham Center in New York and as a publicity agent in Los Angeles, where he resided with his companion Michael Lombardo. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 39.
Detroit Free Press, December 17, 1992
WSU Alumni News, Winter 1993
September 19, 1934 – August 4, 1992
Born in Bay City, Jill Marilyn (Conway) Ramseyer graduated from the Henry Ford Hospital nursing program in 1955 and began work as an RN for the Genesee County Public Health Department in 1972. The first nurse in Flint to do HIV testing, she was founder and later president of Wellness HIV/AIDS Services. Ramseyer retired to Au Gres in 1991 and was survived by her husband and two children.
Flint Journal, August 5, 1992
May 1, 1942 – November 18, 1992
Born in Texas, Rodolfo “Rudy” Aviles grew up in Bay City and served four years in the U.S. Navy. He attended Delta College and Saginaw Valley State University and worked with the Michigan Employment Security Commission. Aviles was active in numerous civic causes, including bilingual education and raising money for Hispanic scholarships. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 50.
Bay City Times, November 18, 1992
September 24, 1965 – May 23, 1992
Robert Edward Lee Penick III graduated with the class of 1983 from Cass Tech High School in Detroit. He came out in the early 1980s on the dance floors of such gay nightclubs as Todd’s, Bookie’s, and the Famous Door. At age 20, Penick moved to New York City to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 28.
No known obituary
June 20, 1961 – December 12, 1992
William Harrison Ashley graduated with the class of 1979 from Pontiac Central High School. In 1983, Ashley was one of three partners who opened Chosen Books in its original location on McNichols in Detroit. Ashley left the business in 1987 and moved to Ohio, later settling in Washington, DC. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 31.
August 12, 1957 – May 15, 1992
A resident of Burton, Howard Wesley Yoder Jr. served in the U.S. Army from 1976 to 1979 and later earned a Bachelor’s in computer science from Baker College. For the last seven years of his life, Yoder worked at Kmart in Flint. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 34.
Flint Journal, May 17, 1992
March 8, 1961 – August 31, 1992
Dennis Wayne Duvall was born in Monroe, earned a B.S. in Arts Management from Eastern Michigan University, and worked as a manager for Frames Unlimited. In the persona of Lisa Carlisle, Duvall performed at the Rubaiyat and Nectarine Ballroom in Ann Arbor and at such bars as Backstreet, the Deck, Gigi’s, and the Pink Flamingo in Detroit. Duvall won the Miss Gay Ann Arbor title for 1985-86.
August 3, 1947 – May 14, 1992
Mt. Clemens native and resident Scott McCready attended Hillsdale College before moving to California. He returned to Metro Detroit in the mid-1980s after learning he had HIV. As president of Friends Alliance for two years, McCready was a prominent local advocate for Persons with AIDS. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 44.
Detroit Free Press, May 15, 1992
Michigan LGBTQ Remember 