February 25, 1951 – October 7, 1996
Redford resident David Ross Betley grew up in Beverly Hills and graduated in 1969 from Groves High School in Birmingham. Betley was employed as an assistant manager with Budget Rent-A-Car and, together with his companion Brian Carmody, belonged to the Motor City Organ Society. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 45.
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.
December 7, 1960 – May 12, 2020
Originally from North Carolina, Redford resident and trailblazing activist Aimee Stephens was fired from her job as a funeral director in Garden City in 2013 when she revealed she was transgender and would be living as a woman. She filed suit against her employer but did not live to witness the Supreme Court decision that her firing violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Stephens was survived by her wife Donna.
May 30, 1949 – November 21, 2010
Roger Stanley Reisdorf graduated from Redford Union High School and earned his B.S. from Ferris State University. He held positions with Grandview Nursing Home, McWilliams Credit Reports, and the Detroit Transportation Corporation. In the early 1990s, Reisdorf became active with Affirmations, later served on the board of directors, and helped raise more than $5 million for its new building.
July 9, 1935 – April 29, 2016
Redford Township native Toni Langfield came out following a heterosexual marriage. She enjoyed a long career as a children’s librarian in the San Francisco Bay area and was active in Old Lesbians Organizing for Change. Langfield was preceded in death by a son and was survived by another son, two daughters, and Carly Rivers, her partner of more than 20 years.
June 9, 1962 – June 29, 2016
Redford pharmacist Darnell Demorris Jones was as an advocate and activist for transgender people in transition. He served as vice president of the Gender Identity Network Alliance and co-founded the group Transcend the Binary. For his outreach work, Jones received the Outstanding Ally Award from Affirmations in 2014.
August 17, 1948 – October 12, 2008
Detroit and Redford resident Dennis Andrew Lamparski was bartender and manager at a number of Detroit gay establishments back to the early 1970s, including the Town Pump, the Voyager Room, the Unicorn, and the Gas Station. He also worked for many years at the annual Metra Picnic.
March 17, 1960 – November 18, 1993
Redford resident John Frush was one of nine children and was a familiar presence in Detroit’s gay bar scene. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 33.
October 9, 1955 – October 13, 1992
Alvin Keith Foster grew up in Taylor and Romulus, attending Christian schools before landing a job as an upholsterer for General Motors. After taking classes in floral design, he began working for Flowers by Sandino in Redford Township. In 1989, with Sandino Ciccarelli, Foster opened the Timesquare dance club in downtown Detroit. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 37.
Michigan LGBTQ Remember 