February 15, 1958 – February 20, 2015
Antony Eugene “Tony” Brown of Madison Heights was born in England and graduated from Dondero High School in Royal Oak. He later studied voice at Michigan State University and in the early 1980s was a noted singer at Detroit gay bars. Brown served on the board of the Performers Awards of Detroit and received multiple PAD honors, including best go-go boy and Male Entertainer of the Year.
No known obituary
April 25, 1926 – September 5, 2015
Mary Elizabeth Pyle was born in Lansing and graduated from Lakeview Highland High School in Battle Creek in 1944, a member of its first graduating class. She was employed as a secretary with Post Cereals for more than 30 years and after retiring in the mid-1980s moved to Phoenix. Pyle was preceded in death by her partner of five decades Patsy Spahr and in her last years wintered back in Michigan.
March 13, 1931 – April 20, 2015
Marvin Phillip Marks of Southfield started his own accounting firm in the early 1960s. In the 1970s and 1980s, he held leadership positions in numerous local gay organizations, including Dignity/Detroit, the Motor City Business Forum, the Detroit Area Gay/Lesbian Council, the Forum Foundation, and Wellness Networks. Marks received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual Pride Banquet in 2009.
February 3, 1938 – April 4, 2015
Brian Vincent Michael Sullivan of Dearborn was born in the Bronx and lived in New York through high school. He earned his Bachelor’s from Mercy College, served three years in the U.S. Army, and later pursued a Master’s in counseling from Wayne State University to become an addiction therapist. Sullivan was survived by Robert Curtis, his life partner of 48 years.
January 16, 1946 – September 21, 2015
Born in Oregon, photographer and filmmaker Honey Lee Cottrell grew up in mid-Michigan and graduated in 1964 from Jackson High School. She completed a year at Michigan State University before she found her vocation while working in a photo lab. Cottrell subsequently moved to San Francisco, where she was employed with the union movement and became a pioneering creator of lesbian erotica.
Windy City Times, September 26, 2015
November 4, 1951 – November 23, 2015
Linda Eileen Gesterling was born in Bixby Knolls, California and resided in Glendale, Arizona when she passed away. In the 1980s she lived in Lansing, where she was employed with the Social Security Administration and was a 1990 graduate of Michigan State University. Gesterling was survived by her spouse Lisa Howell.
June 8, 1923 – February 27, 2015
Nationally renowned Episcopal priest, civil rights activist, and author Rev. Malcolm Boyd made headlines in the mid-1970s when he came out as gay. During the early 1960s, he served as chaplain at Wayne State University in Detroit. His many books included Take Off the Masks and Gay Priest: An Inner Journey. Boyd was survived by his husband Mark Thompson.
Between The Lines, March 12, 2015
Malcolm Boyd Papers at the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center
October 15, 1971 – December 29, 2015
Andrea Elizabeth Still Gray grew up in Royal Oak and earned her B.A. in cultural anthropology from Wayne State University and later received her Masters in Library and Information Science from Simmons College in Boston. Her career included working for a communications firm and as an archivist at Harvard and a librarian for the Massachusetts State House. She and her spouse Julie Gray were married in 2009.
June 15, 1953 – July 27, 2015
Vande Jane Grewer of Troy earned her B.S. in retail management in 1975 from Michigan State University. She was as a licensed real estate agent in Metro Detroit and attended the First United Methodist Church of Birmingham. Grewer’s life partner Tamara Dowd survived her.
April 1, 1957 – January 4, 2015
Kevin James Rogers was born and grew up in Clinton Township in Macomb County. He resided in Lincoln Park and Detroit before moving to Ferndale, where he co-chaired Keep Our Human Rights, a group formed to combat a ballot campaign to rescind Ferndale’s newly enacted non-discrimination ordinance in 1999. Rogers owned and operated Just 4 Us in Ferndale from 2004 until his death.
Michigan LGBTQ Remember 