• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Recently deceased Mike Illitch quietly paid for Rosa Parks' rent

Status
Not open for further replies.
Those who knew Mike Ilitch, the Little Caesars founder and Detroit Tigers owner who died last Friday, have spent the past few days fondly remembering his impact on friends, on Detroit residents, and on the sports community.

Ilitch also had an impact on the daily life of one of the most iconic figures from the civil rights movement.
For more than a decade, Ilitch had quietly paid for Rosa Parks' apartment in downtown Detroit, according to CNN affiliate WXYZ.

Shortly after her famed defiance of segregation sparked the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott, Parks moved to Detroit and became an important presence in the city for years afterward.
But in 1994, Parks was robbed and assaulted in her home at the age of 81.
Keith, himself an important legal figure in the civil rights movement, worked to find Parks a new, safer apartment at the Riverfront Apartments in Detroit, according to the Sports Business Daily.
Ilitch read the story in the newspaper and called Keith, offering to pay for Parks' housing indefinitely. With no fanfare, Ilitch continued paying for the apartment until Parks died in 2005, Keith said.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/15/us/mike-ilitch-rosa-parks-trnd/
 

GhaleonEB

Member
I didn't know much about Mike Ilitch before his passing, but it's clear from what I've read since that he was a remarkable person. Tremendous respect for not only doing this, but doing it without credit for all those years. He was just quietly being wonderful.
 
Wow. I've just been trained to assume fast food CEO's are assholes like Dan "Chik Fil A" Cathy, Papa John, Jimmie John and the Labor Secretary nominee. So nice and refreshing to see one who is the opposite.
 

Madness

Member
Crazy that it takes a billionaire to find someone like Rosa Parks a decent apartment to live in. Someone who has been crucial for the civil rights movement in the US and will be well known throughout history. Did no one else care about her at all?
 
Crazy that it takes a billionaire to find someone like Rosa Parks a decent apartment to live in. Someone who has been crucial for the civil rights movement in the US and will be well known throughout history. Did no one else care about her at all?

This is America.

So not enough.
 

ahoyhoy

Unconfirmed Member
Not sure if he was responsible for fixing up Little Ceasers recently but the wing/pizza bread there is a steal.

RIP.
 

Christian

Member
Wow. Talk about something to restore your faith in humanity. Guy did it because it was a good thing to do, not for photo ops and to show how righteous he was. RIP.
 
Damn. Respect. Even better that he didn't tell anyone and try to get favor for his businesses etc.

Yeah. Massive respect for him to do such a nice thing for such an important woman in American history.

Its always nice when you find out like this their good deeds, makes it so much more genuine.
 

Kite

Member
WHO THE FUCK WOULD ASSAULT ROSA PARKS
Man who attacked Rosa Parks offers apology
skinner_mug.jpg
 

Davidion

Member
Don't know anything about this guy, but everything I'm glancing across paints him as the borderline patron saint of modern Detroit.

I hope this man rest in peace.
 
He really was a class act. This is a nice thing to do, but more than that it's impressive that it was all done without any fanfare. There was no desire for attention or anything.

As a fan I always knew him as a great owner who did so much for his teams, but it's great that he was doing so much more outside of that (and probably other things aside from this as well). A damn shame he never got that World Series ring.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom