November 29, 1970 – November 3, 2016
Melissa Sorber Schout graduated from Grand Rapids Baptist High School in the class of 1988. She later lived in Chicago before settling in Flowery Branch, Georgia outside Atlanta. Schout was employed with RxSleep and was survived by her spouse Alicia Addington.
June 21, 1951 – February 13, 2018
Born in DeWitt, Juliana Daberkow attended DeWitt High School and Davenport University and later worked as an assembly line worker at Steelcase in Grand Rapids. She was survived by her life partner of more than 24 years Nancy Botsford.
April 9, 1959 – October 10, 2018
Known as “Auntie” to tribal youth in Michigan, Cindy Pigeon of Wayland led workshops on native culture and was active with the Grand Rapids Inter-Tribal Council and the Indian Workers Conference of the United Methodist Church. She was an avid sports enthusiast, kept score for Hopkins Public Schools, and pitched softball with the Salem Indian Mission team. She was survived by her wife Faith Pigeon.
October 13, 1950 – August 14, 2007
Betty Jo “Stormie” Parham grew up in Grand Rapids and lived in Phoenix and Chicago before settling with her partner Gail Goldstein in Placitas, New Mexico. She worked variously as a builder, chef, clown, firefighter, handy-woman, and innkeeper. Parham died at age 56 after a long battle with lung cancer.
Lesbian Connection, May/June 2008
August 19, 1948 – July 19, 2014
A mother and grandmother, Margaret Lillian Boes owned and operated Paper Moon Decorating in Grand Rapids for more than four decades. She shared a home with Tami Groothuis, her life partner of 25 years, and enjoyed fishing and camping on Gun Lake in southwestern lower Michigan.
July 17, 1905 – December 11, 1980
Born in Italy, Joseph Accardi immigrated to the U.S., married in 1937, and worked as a storekeeper and an autoworker in Detroit before moving to Grand Rapids. He owned and operated Papa Joe’s Show Bar from the late 1950s until his death.
Grand Rapids Press, December 13, 1980
May 22, 1936 – June 14, 2016
Born in Redding, Maine, Sherry Redding earned her B.A. from the University of Michigan and a Master’s from Michigan State University. A longtime counselor, for many years she taught women’s studies at William James College at Grand Valley State University. She was also a founding member in 1978 of the local lesbian organization Aradia. Redding and her spouse Karen Clahassey shared 36 years together.
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
July 11, 1937 – April 9, 2014
Longtime Grand Rapids resident Myra Elizabeth Marshall was employed by City Water Repair and belonged to Reconciliation Metropolitan Community Church. She was preceded in death by her life partner Marcella Robinson.
Grand Rapids Press, April 23, 2014
November 12, 1929 – April 20, 2003
Originally from Beverly, Massachusetts, Marcella “Marcy” Louise Robinson served in the U.S. Navy from 1950 to 1955. She later moved to Grand Rapids, where she worked as a draftsperson and as an assembler for Laser Alignment. Robinson and her life partner Myra Marshall attended Reconciliation Metropolitan Community Church.
Grand Rapids Press, April 23, 2003
Michigan LGBTQ Remember 