September 28, 1956 – June 1, 2017
Monroe native James Asher graduated from Monroe High School in 1974 and went on to undergraduate studies at The Ohio State University and graduate studies at California State. Prior to moving to California, he played professional tennis through racquet clubs in Bloomfield Hills and Rochester Hills. In later years he coached and taught high school English. He was survived by his partner Brent Sweer.
July 31, 1955 – November 8, 2021
Bloomfield Hills resident and Detroit native Treva Bell Bass graduated from Cass Tech High School and pursued acting in Los Angeles. On returning to Detroit, Bass attended Specs Howard University and became a chief engineer with her family’s radio stations. Bass and June Washington, her partner of 33 years, gave generously to Affirmations, the Ruth Ellis Center, Hotter Than July, and other causes.
June 27, 1957 – March 2, 2020
Long Island, New York native Beth Sara Greenapple resided in Royal Oak and Southfield after moving to Metro Detroit in 1995 and taught music at Hillel Day School in Farmington Hills and the Roeper School in Bloomfield Hills. She was a founding member of the Jewish Gay Network of Michigan and served as its early president. Greenapple was survived by her partner Julia Pais and their son Nadav Pais-Greenapple.
September 21, 1963 – March 22, 1994
Born in Pontiac, Scott Russell Sweeney of Bloomfield Hills earned his bachelor’s in communications from Michigan State University in 1985 and later pursued studies at the University of London in the UK. Sweeney enjoyed a rich career as a public affairs manager within the auto industry, overseeing the rollout of the Ford Mustang and the F150 Lightning. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 30.
Detroit Free Press, March 24, 1994
August 12, 1958 – July 25, 2016
Theresa Mary Guillean of Bloomfield Hills graduated with the Pontiac Catholic High School class of 1976. She went on to earn her B.S. in 1990 from Oakland University and devoted herself to social work. Guillean and her wife Lori Klein Shapiro were among more than 300 couples issued marriage licenses on March 22, 2014 after a federal judge overturned Michigan’s ban on same-sex marriage.
December 23, 1946 – March 14, 2011
Judith Slotkin of Bloomfield Hills and formerly of Detroit was marketing manager for Show Tech Presentation Systems and later ran her own consulting firm. A volunteer fundraiser for WTVS-TV, the Music Hall, and Michigan Opera Theater, she was also actively involved in the Jewish Gay Network of Michigan. Slotkin was survived by her life partner of Anne Adelson.
September 16, 1950 – November 14, 2010
Longtime Bloomfield Hills resident and advertising executive Lois Anne Yeagley graduated from Marian High School in 1968 and earned her Bachelors and Masters in advertising from Michigan State University in 1972 and 1973. Yeagley was co-founder in 1999 of the Godmothers, a Metro Detroit social and charitable group.
July 7, 1923 – March 14, 2013
The Rt. Rev. H. Coleman McGehee of Bloomfield Hills served as bishop the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan from 1973 to 1990. A leading ally of the LGBTQ community for more than four decades, McGehee served on the Advisory Board for the Triangle Foundation and ordained some of the first openly gay priests in the Episcopal Church.
January 30, 1939 – September 1, 2016
Originally from Dayton, Ohio, Deborah Ann Mortimer graduated from Grosse Pointe South High School, attended Albion College, and earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at Oakland University. An avid golfer and artist, she taught elementary school from 1974 to 2004. Mortimer and her life partner of 40 years Liana Holton shared a home in Bloomfield Hills.
Michigan LGBTQ Remember 