October 8, 1947 – May 16, 1994
Born in Detroit, Carl Rippberger graduated from Denby High School and served a tour of duty in Vietnam as a U.S. Army draftee. He bar tended at Tiffany’s before acquiring the Escape Lounge, which he opened as Backstreet nightclub in 1979. Rippberger served as president of the Detroit Bar Guild and helped raise funds for Wellness House and Affirmations. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 46.
Detroit Free Press, May 19, 1994
January 8, 1947 – October 4, 2014
Ronald Hoenig of Bonita Springs, Florida was born in Toledo, Ohio and grew up in Adrian and Blissfield. He served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War and later operated a cabinetry business with Art Trevino, his partner of 27 years. The couple would have liked to have married but Hoenig died months before the Supreme Court made it legally possible.
October 30, 1946 – February 22, 1976
Randall Douglas “Doug” Fox was born in Indiana, earned his Bachelor’s at Earlham College and his Master’s at the University of Michigan. Following grad school, he moved to Detroit and worked as an assistant manager at Woolworth’s. Fox’s body was found bludgeoned and shot in the head on the sidewalk in the Virginia Park neighborhood in what friends considered an anti-gay killing.
Detroit News, February 23, 1976
June 13, 1958 – May 23, 2008
Ann Ellen Flescher of Lansing worked as a counselor and administrator for 16 years with the Counseling Center at Michigan State University. She and her life partner Dawn Mead were early benefactors when MSU extended domestic partnership benefits to faculty and staff in 1997. Flescher was a strong supporter of Allies for Change and the Leaven Center.
September 25, 1941 – September 8, 2007
A 1960 graduate of Jackson High School and 1982 graduate of Michigan State University, Suzanne Klinko worked with the AWARE Shelter and the Community Action Agency before taking a job as substance abuse counselor for Chelsea Community Hospital. She was preceded in death by her life partner Susan Roark.
September 23, 1964 – June 18, 1999
Detroit resident James Richard Kirkwood Jr. was employed with a credit union. He learned he had HIV in 1989 and kept his status secret from his family for nine years out of shame and fear of rejection for his sexuality. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 34.
January 22, 1935 – November 5, 2017
Detroit native and Novi resident Robert Murphy served in the U.S. Navy and retired as a Chief Petty Officer from the Naval Reserves. A long active in the leather community under the name Mark Ensinger, he was a member of Detroit’s Studs 30 and the Chicago Hellfire Club. He was posthumously awarded the 2018 Chuck Renslow President’s Award by the Leather Archives and Museum.
June 11, 1936 – May 4, 2005
Known as the “Worm Woman,” Kalamazoo resident Mary Arlene Appelhof became a world-renowned expert on using earthworms for composting. She was born in Detroit, grew up in Alma, and attended high school in Ohio. She earned a B.S. and two Masters from Michigan State and taught in Kalamazoo and at Interlochen. Appelhof was survived by her partner of 27 years Mary Frances Fenton.
Kalamazoo Gazette, May 5, 2005
Between The Lines, May, 19, 2005
Lesbian Connection, September/October 2006
July 30, 1936 – October 5, 2006
Originally from Amherstburg, Ontario, Anna Mae Kiraly went to school in Windsor to become a Registered Nurse and was employed by Detroit Receiving Hospital as a critical care nurse for more than 40 years. Kiraly lived in and around Metro Detroit, including Warren, Farmington, and Sterling Heights. She was survived by Judith Cook, her partner of 24 years.
March 28, 1937 – February 3, 2016
Carole Lynn Stoneking was raised in Grosse Pointe, received her Bachelor’s at Wayne State University, and in 1967, she earned a scholarship to pursue her Masters in recreational leadership. She had a 27-year career with the YWCA and later owned the Stress Management Institute of Therapeutic Massage in Columbia, South Carolina. Stoneking also served on the steering committee for Old Lesbians Organizing for Change.
Michigan LGBTQ Remember 