March 8, 1954 – April 12, 2022
James Patrick “Jimmy” Dowdle, known to many in the LGBTQ+ community as Poodles, was born in Battle Creek and graduated in 1972 from St. Philip Catholic Central High School. After moving to Detroit, he joined the waitstaff at Menjo’s, later served as manager, and was co-owner for several years in the early 2000s. For the last 16 years of his life, Dowdle tended bar at Danny’s Irish Pub in Ferndale.
June 21, 1928 – September 6, 2017
Ohio native Paul Eugene Espenscheid enjoyed a long career in hospitality, from the 1970s to the late 1980s was part owner and manager of the Howard Johnson Motor Lodge in Monroe. Following the death of Mike Crawford in 1988, Espenschied became co-owner with Don Hazlett of Menjo’s dance club in Detroit. Beyond his business interests, he also supported a number of AIDS and gay rights causes.
August 15, 2947 – March 17, 2005
Kenneth John Arnold was born in Detroit and graduated in 1965 from Lincoln Park High School in Lincoln Park. He later moved to Bay City and in the early 1970s, he became proprietor of Chalet Interiors in Saginaw. Often known by his drag name Bambi, Arnold took over Tallulah’s Show Bar in the 1990s and rechristened it Bambi’s Bottoms Up.
Saginaw News, March 19, 2005
November 30, 1955 – January 19, 2005
William Arthur Popps was born in the small Upper Peninsula town of Ewen, graduated with the class of 1973 from Marquette Senior High School, and earned a degree in theater from Northern Michigan University. Popps was co-owner with Brian Thorsen of Club Xpress in Escanaba, the only gay bar in the UP, from 1992 to 2002.
July 26, 1932 – December 3, 1989
Canadian native Daniel Maine Campbell was born in Saskatchewan and trained as a pharmacist by profession. In 1975, he and his life companion Bobby Calvert took over Todd’s Sway Lounge, making it into Detroit’s premiere Eastside gay dance club. They also operated the Akron Health Club and were active in the Detroit Bar Guild.
Detroit Free Press, December 4, 1989
May 22, 1940 – March 29, 2014
White Lake resident Reginal Lewis “Reggie” Doyon graduated from St. Frederick High School in Pontiac and worked at Pontiac Motors. Following his retirement from the plant, he purchased Club Flamingo and after a year began operating the bar as a gay establishment. In 1998, the city selected Doyon for its Business Beautification of the Year. He continued to run the bar for another decade.
March 18, 1943 – August 16, 1990
Born in Dearborn and a graduate of Fordson High School, Sandino “Sandy” Ciccarelli established Sandino’s Flowers in Redford with business partner Ron Huddleston in the mid-1960s. Together with Keith Foster, Ciccarelli opened the Timesquare dance club in downtown Detroit in 1989. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 47.
June 17, 1935 – November 2, 1990
Richard Dutton grew up in Birmingham, graduated from high school in 1953, and served as a medic in the U.S. Army. Following his military service, he held retail jobs before starting bartending at Tiffany’s in the early 1970s. He later operated the Cove with Lin Shampine and Norm Schwartz and then worked for Menjo’s and staffed the door at the Pink Flamingo. At age 55, Dutton took his own life.
August 6, 1940 – December 29, 1990
Bruce Dettloff started his gay bar career as a waiter at the Conquest Lounge in Detroit, rising to the position of manager and rechristening it Blue Boy. In 1975, he opened the Gold Coast Saloon and later operated Applause. He also helped establish the BTI Bowling League and was co-founder of the Detroit Bar Guild. Dettloff was shot and killed at his home at age 50.
July 19, 1961 – June 10, 1986
Robert Dean Lowe, Boo-Boo to friends, graduated with the class of 1980 from Lakeshore High School in St. Clair Shores. He worked as doorman at Menjo’s nightclub in the mid-1980s and was co-owner of the popular afterhours dance emporium Heaven. Lowe was found shot to death in his Palmer Woods home in Detroit at age 25.
Michigan LGBTQ Remember 