September 14, 1935 – January 12, 2006
Born in Bay City, Delphine Merle “Del” Parshall graduated with the Clarkston High School class of 1952. She went on to study at Ferris State University, then known as Ferris Institute, and later taught health recreation and physical education at Northern Michigan University, where she coached the school’s first women’s basketball team in 1971. Parshall was survived by her life partner Iris Erickson.
December 19, 1943 – December 26, 2017
Born in Negaunee, Thomas Louis Baldini graduated from St. Paul’s High School in 1961 and earned his Bachelor’s from Northern Michigan University in 1965. He taught at Marquette Senior High for nearly 20 years and served on the Michigan Technological University Board of Trustees from 2010 to 2016. Baldini was elected to the Marquette City Council in 2014 and died a month after becoming mayor.
May 10, 1882 – December 29, 1952
Born in the small community of LaGrange, Earle Milan Parker graduated from the University of Michigan in 1906 and taught high school Latin in Marquette before pursuing his Masters at the University of Chicago. He went on to teach at Northern Michigan College of Education, later Northern Michigan University, where he was part of a discrete circle of gay friends.
Mining Journal, December 30, 1952
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.
October 8, 1922 – December 17, 2011
Gwendolyn Mae Bagley was born in the Upper Peninsula town of Wilson and graduated from Powers-Spalding High School. She earned her B.S. in physical education at Northern Michigan Teachers College, later NMU, and taught in Marquette for two years before moving to Midland to teach. Bagley retired in 1986. She was survvived by Carolyn Fretz, her life partner of more than 50 years.
April 5, 1957 – September 28, 2004
Francine Louise Malindzak was a star athlete at Gaylord High School and Northern Michigan University in hockey and skiing. She was later employed with plant operations at the NMU library and in the 1990s was co-publisher of the Aurora newsletter, which connected lesbian and gay residents across the Upper Peninsula. Malindzak was murdered at age 47 by a jealous male neighbor of the woman she was dating.
Gaylord Herald Times, October 2, 2004
July 25, 1967 – May 30, 2017
Timothy Richard Liupakka graduated in 1986 from Marquette Senior High School and attended Northern Michigan University before moving to Milwaukee to pursue a degree in interior design. Liupakka performed under the drag name Tabitha Stephens in Wisconsin and later in annual shows at NMU. In 2015, he moved to Florida where he worked in hotel housekeeping and married Peter Williamson.
November 5, 1940 – August 13, 2018
Karen Sundberg of Taylor was born in Marquette, graduated from Ishpeming Public Schools, earned her B.A. from Northern Michigan University, and received an M.A. from Wayne State. In the 1980s, she was active in Lesbian Sisters Building a Network and served as treasurer of the Detroit Area Gay/Lesbian Council. Sundberg was also active for many decades in the National Organization for Women.
April 26, 1946 – September 17, 2014
Jean Kinnear grew up near Lexington, Virginia, earned her B.S. from Virginia Commonwealth University and her M.S. and Ph.D. at Penn State. As a professor at Northern Michigan University, she taught outdoor recreation for 30 distinguished years. Kinnear lived in Marquette with life partner Joanna Mitchell.
July 24, 1944 – November 1, 2015
An eleven-year resident of Marquette, Judith Fern “Judy” Eisenberg worked as a waitress, an emergency medical technician, Dichtaphone operator, folk singer, and piano teacher. As a member of the Lake Superior Piano Workshop from 2004 to 2010, she performed at the Peter White Library and the Women’s Federated Clubhouse.
Michigan LGBTQ Remember 