September 11, 1957 – March 18, 2014
A native of the small town of Wakefield and a graduate of Gogebic Community College, Lucia Patritto served in the 1980s as executive director of DOVE, a domestic violence service agency. She later became Michigan State University extension director for the western counties of the Upper Peninsula.
September 22, 1927 – February 18, 2014
From 1976 to 2014, Dearborn Heights neurosurgeon Dr. Henry Messer was a tireless advocate for gay rights in Michigan, active in the Association of Suburban People and the Michigan Organization for Human Rights. In 1991, Messer played an instrumental role in establishing the Triangle Foundation, which later became Equality Michigan.
July 15, 1946 – April 21, 2014
Frances Kelleher grew up on Long Island, received her B.A. from the College of New Rochelle, and earned her Ph.D. from New York University. She served as professor of European history at Grand Valley State, where she taught for 25 years.
October 5, 1980 – December 13, 2014
Activist Robert Clark was past president of the Black Pride Society, which produces Detroit’s annual Hotter Than July celebration. He served on the Michigan HRC Steering Committee and was active in the Peninsula Group.
September 30, 1963 – January 1, 2014
Novi resident Lino Vincent Lopez grew up in Holland and was general manager of Mitchell’s Fish Market restaurant in Livonia. He was a supporter and volunteer, with life partner Todd Patrick Kananen, of Art Road.
September 8, 1955 – February 15, 2014
Yvonne Hebert enjoyed playing softball and cheered for the Detroit Tigers. A member of the Youth Activity Council, she was employed by DBQ Industries in Livonia. She and her life partner Ginger Howe resided in Waterford.
May 12, 1941 – March 19, 2014
Milton Ford taught liberal studies at Grand Valley State University and served as founding director of the campus LGBT Resource Center from 2008 to 2010. He authored the book Playing It Straight: Gay Men and Heterosexual Marriage. Ford was survived by his partner Gary Van Harn.
September 8, 1955 – October 2, 2014
Lansing resident Nancy Gardner worked as a computer analyst and volunteered with Capital Area Literacy, Haven House, and Edgewood United Church of Christ. She and her spouse Julia Grant were one of more than 300 Michigan same-sex couples to wed on June 21, 2014, the day after U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman ruled the state’s marriage ban unconstitutional.
August 17, 1937 – September 2, 2014
From 1974 to 1979, Donna Chartier, her then partner Diane Bono, and their friend June Reynolds operated the Casbah, the first lesbian-owned lesbian bar in Metro Detroit.
March 23, 1924 – August 19, 2014
Betty Leonard worked as manager of the State Bar in Flint from the late 1950s to the early 1980s.
Michigan LGBTQ Remember 