Find A Grave - Woodlawn Cemetery

Benson, Obie (Renaldo) b. June 14, 1937 d. July 1, 2005
Singer, songwriter. A founding member of the Motown group The Four Tops. A native of Detroit, Obie along with founding members Levi Stubbs, Abdul “Duke” Fakir and Lawrence Payton (d. 1997), the group was originally named 'The Four Aimes' when they started out in 1954 singing at a Detroit party. They signed a contract with Chess Records and then changed their name to 'The Four Tops'. They had no sucessful recordings with Chess Records. Over the next few years they had signed various contracts...[Read More] (Bio by: Allcalmap)
Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, USA
Chapin Sr., Roy Dikeman b. February 23, 1880 d. February 16, 1936
Businessman, Presidential Cabinet Secretary. Automotive engineer, manufacturer, and designer. As an employee of R. E. Olds, he set a speed driving record by piloting a little Curved Dash Olds automobile from Detroit, Michigan to the 1901 New York Auto Show, in New York City, covering the distance of mud roads in just eight days, a remarkable motoring feat for the times He was one of the founders, along with Howard E. Coffin, Roscoe B. Jackson, F.O. Bezner, J.J. Brady, and Hugh Chalmers, of The...[Read More] (Bio by: W. R. L.)
Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, USA
Plot: Please inquire at the cemetery office.
Cobo, Albert E. b. October 2, 1893 d. September 12, 1957
Detroit Mayor. Served as the Mayor of Detroit, Michigan, from 1950 until his death in 1957. Also served as a Republican Candidate for Governor of Michigan in 1956. (Bio by: K)
Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, USA
Coffin, Howard Aldridge b. June 11, 1877 d. February 28, 1956
US Congressman. Elected to represent Michigan's 13th District in the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1947 to 1949. He was defeated for reelection in 1948. (Bio by: K)
Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, USA
Corliss, John Blaisdell b. June 7, 1851 d. December 24, 1929
US Congressman. Elected to represent Michigan's 1st District in the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1895 to 1903. He was defeated as Republican in 1902. (Bio by: K)
Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, USA
Couzens, James b. August 26, 1872 d. October 22, 1936
US Senator, Detroit Mayor. Served as a United States Senator from Michigan from 1922 until his death in 1936. Also served as the Mayor of Detroit, Michigan, from 1919 to 1922. (Bio by: K)
Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, USA
Davis, Billy (Roquel) b. July 11, 1932 d. September 2, 2004
Songwriter, Record Producer, and Singer. He contributed to a number of soul hits and some of the most popular commercial jingles, mostly for Coca-Cola. Davis' career in music began with an early version of The Four Tops called "The Four Aims" which included his cousin the late Lawrence Payton. Davis sometimes sang with the group as the fifth Aim while they were affiliated with Chess Records (before Motown). Although Chess Records was more impressed Davis' writing skill than the group, his...[Read More]
Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, USA
Dodge, Horace Elgin b. May 17, 1868 d. December 10, 1920
Automobile Engineer. Brother of John Francis Dodge. In 1910 they opened a large auto parts plant in Hamtramck, MI and supplied auto parts and engines to the Fords Motor Company and the Olds Motor Works. The first Dodge automobile appeared on November 14, 1914. Both brothers died in 1920 and Dodge was purchased by the Chrysler Corpoation in 1928.
Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, USA
Plot: Section 10
Dodge, John Francis b. October 25, 1864 d. January 14, 1920
Businessman. He purchased Meadow Brook Farm, a 320-acre estate, in 1908; it was later expanded to 1,500 acres. The Dodge Brothers were machinists and bicycle builders. They supplied the Ford Motor Company and were both among the original Ford investors. John Dodge died of influenza, leaving Matilda as one of the nation's wealthiest women. The John Dodges were building a mansion in affluent Grosse Pointe, Michigan when he died at age 56; the mansion would stand unfinished for more than 20...[Read More]
Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, USA
Plot: Section 10, Lot 5, Section 10, Grave 1
Duffield Jr., George b. September 11, 1818 d. July 6, 1888
Hymn Author; wrote the words to the great Christian hymn, "Stand Up For Jesus." (Bio by: Mike Reed)
Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, USA
Plot: Section W, Lot 3
Edwards (Jones), Dee (Doris Jean) b. June 19, 1945 d. January 25, 2006
Singer. She was born in Birmingham, Alabama. She joined the group 'The Parangons' in the 1960s, and later, when the group split up, she become a solo artist. Among her songs "I Can Deal With That," "Don't Sit Down," "No Love, No World," "All The Way Home," "Happiness is Where You Find It," "You Say You Love Me" and "Tired of Staying Home." Her real name was Doris Jean Jones (other sources say Harrell). He died in Detroit, Michigan. (Bio by: José L Bernabé Tronchoni)
Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, USA
Ferguson, Homer (Samuel) b. February 25, 1889 d. December 17, 1982
US Senator, US Diplomat. Served as a United States Senator from Michigan from 1943 to 1955. He was defeated as a Republican in 1954. Also served as a Circuit Judge from 1929 to 1941, United States Ambassador to the Philippines from 1955 to 1956, and a Federal Judge from 1956 to 1971. His parents were Samuel Ferguson and Margarete Bush. Lloyd Bridges portrayed Homer in the 1988 movie 'Tucker: The Man and His Dream'. (Bio by: K)
Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, USA
Ford Sr., Benson b. July 20, 1919 d. July 27, 1978
Second son of Edsel Bryant Ford I and Eleanor Lowthian Clay, he was at first named Edsel Junior, but re-named Benson, a Hudson family name, his maternal grandmother's maiden name. Easygoing, affable and good-humored, he worked in the Ford Rouge with Henry Ford II, his older brother, until their enlistment after Pearl Harbor. In June 1943, he and Henry II represented the 41.9% of shares that had been held by their father, Edsel I. One of the 1950s Ford Motor Co. directors and vice-presidents, he...[Read More] (Bio by: Earl Richard Sutton)
Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, USA
Plot: Section 10
Ford, Edsel Bryant b. November 6, 1893 d. May 26, 1943
Ford Motor Company President. The only child of Henry Ford I and Clara Bryant, he married Eleanor Lowthian Clay in 1916. A designer and executive, he was the first secretary of the Ford Motor Company, becoming its president in 1921 and serving until 1943. He developed the collections of decorative arts and Americana at the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan, and served on the Arts Commission of the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) from 1925 to 1943. He and Eleanor...[Read More]
Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, USA
Plot: Section 10
Ford, Geraldine b. November 5, 1926 d. October 5, 2003
Judge. She was the first female African-American elected to a judgeship in the United States. Although she was known by many as "Mean Geraldine" for her strict interpretation of the law and tough sentences, she was also considered fair and just. She earned a BA from the University of Michigan in 1948, and then graduated from Wayne State University Law School in 1951. She was born into a progressive family. Her grandfather was born a slave and became a professor at an African-American college in...[Read More] (Bio by: Always with Love)
Cause of death: Heart attack
Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, USA
Franklin, Rev. C. L. (Clarence Le Vaughn) b. January 22, 1915 d. July 27, 1984
Well known and influential minister in Detroit, Michigan and throughout the nation who founded New Bethel Baptist Church where he pastored for 33 years. He was also father of R&B singer Aretha Franklin and is considered to be one of the greatest orators of the 20th Century. Rev. Franklin was known by most of all as "the man with the golden voice." He was born (Clarence Le Vaughn Franklin) to sharecroppers in Sunflower County, Mississippi in 1915. It was when the family moved to Cleveland...[Read More] (Bio by: Curtis Jackson)
Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, USA
Plot: Main mausoleum
Franklin, Carolyn b. May 13, 1944 d. April 25, 1988
R&B/Soul Musician. A native of Memphis, Tennessee, she was the younger sister of Erma Franklin, Aretha Franklin, and the daughter of the Reverend C.L. Franklin. A talented singer and songwriter she wrote both music for her and her sisters, as well as singing backup for them. At a young age Franklin became interested in music through her father's church, and she began to play the piano and sing. The family moved to Buffalo, New York, and then finally to Detroit, Michigan, where she grew up with...[Read More] (Bio by: K)
Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, USA
Franklin, Erma b. March 13, 1938 d. September 7, 2002
R&B/Soul Musician. Born Erma Venice Franklin in Shelby, Mississippi, she was the sister of singers Carolyn and Aretha Franklin, and the daughter of Rev. C.L. Franklin. As a child she moved to Memphis, Detroit, and Buffalo, where at 5 she began singing in her father's church choir. Later in high school she began singing with her sisters in the vocal group, 'The Cleo-Patrettes' and began recording on the local Detroit Radio Label JVB, but the group broke up after high school. After high school...[Read More] (Bio by: K)
Cause of death: Cancer
Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, USA
Fruehauf, Harvey b. 1893 d. 1968
Businessman. Chairman of the Board for the Fruehauf Trailer Corporation. Son of founder August Fruehauf.
Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, USA
Garrett, Susie b. December 29, 1931 d. May 24, 2002
Actress. Susie Garrett had rolls on 'Punky Brewster' and ''The Jeffersons'. She played Betty Johnson on "Punky Brewster" and also appeared in 10 episodes of the CBS television show called "The Jefferson's", that featured an African American family's rise into high society. Susie has a sister who is also an actress, Marla Gibbs, who played George and Louise Jefferson's maid. Television producer, Aaron Spelling, was the first person who saw her in the '227' play. In turn, she signed a contract...[Read More] (Bio by: Cinnamonntoast4)
Cause of death: Cancer
Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, USA

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