September 14, 1935 – January 12, 2006
Born in Bay City, Delphine Merle “Del” Parshall graduated with the Clarkston High School class of 1952. She went on to study at Ferris State University, then known as Ferris Institute, and later taught health recreation and physical education at Northern Michigan University, where she coached the school’s first women’s basketball team in 1971. Parshall was survived by her life partner Iris Erickson.
January 16, 1935 – June 2, 2006
Marilyn Kay Ramm of Auburn was a graduate with the class of 1953 of Bay City Central High School. She received her nursing degree from Harper Hospital in Detroit and earned her Master’s at Wayne State University. Ramm and her partner Suzanne Slaughter were together for 35 years.
March 27, 1950 – March 17, 2006
James Stewart James was born in Detroit and graduated with the class of 1969 from Mumford High School. He later earned his Associates degree from Oakland Community College and was employed at General Motors for 25 years. James was active in Men of Color, Project Survivor, and Detroit Black Gay Pride, for many years helping to plan the annual Hotter Than July! picnic in Palmer Park.
September 17, 1953 – April 4, 2006
Michele “Mickie” Janisse attended Utica High School, graduated from the Wayne State University School of Mortuary Science, and resided in Hazel Park and Ferndale. A longtime and compassionate funeral director in Ontario and Michigan, Janisse also practiced a form of massage called myomassology. She was survived by her beloved partner Lynne Rose.
July 28, 1931 – October 28, 2006
Shirley Ann Weaver, formerly of Livonia, was born in Detroit and met her loving companion Barbara Sowers in the early 1960s. Weaver retired as a public school teacher and counselor in 1989 and relocated with Sowers to Port Charlotte, Florida.
July 18, 1949 – August 9, 2006
Detroit native Colleen Annette Regan was valedictorian of the class of 1967 at McKenzie High School and went on to earn her B.A. and M.A. in education from the University of Maryland. She left teaching to pursue a 20-year career as a Certified Public Accountant, retiring in 2003. Regan and her partner Kathe Kirkbride resided in New Mexico.
Lesbian Connection, November/December 2006
July 30, 1936 – October 5, 2006
Originally from Amherstburg, Ontario, Anna Mae Kiraly went to school in Windsor to become a Registered Nurse and was employed by Detroit Receiving Hospital as a critical care nurse for more than 40 years. Kiraly lived in and around Metro Detroit, including Warren, Farmington, and Sterling Heights. She was survived by Judith Cook, her partner of 24 years.
July 23, 1937 – April 12, 2006
A native of Kansas, Mary Frances Fenton earned her B.F.A. at the University of Oklahoma. She later earned her M.A. at Western Michigan University, where she served a professor of graphic arts for nearly three decades. Fenton and her partner of 24 years Mary Appelhof participated in the lesbian group Aradia in Grand Rapids and were long active in the women’s community in Kalamazoo.
Lesbian Connection, September/October 2006
January 18, 1925 – July 27, 2006
Longtime Detroit City Council president Maryann Mahaffey toured several gay bars on election eve during her first campaign for Council in 1973. In the decades that followed, she never wavered in her support for the LGBTQ community, from helping include sexual orientation in the city’s human rights ordinance to opposing the Prop 2 initiative that banned same-sex marriage in the state constitution.
November 29, 1951 – January 2, 2006
Northville resident Jan Pierce was born in Dearborn and served 25 years with the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, retiring as a detective sergeant. She and her partner Marcia Patrick were strong supporters of the Triangle Foundation and attended golf outings sponsored by Affirmations. They lost their lives in a New Year’s Eve automobile accident.
Michigan LGBTQ Remember 