‘An Ann Arbor original.’ Local historian Ray Detter remembered for big spirit - mlive.com

Nov 07, 2024

Ray Detter, coordinator of the Downtown Ann Arbor Historical Street Exhibit Program, speaks at a dedication ceremony for two new historical panels outside the city's old bus depot on Huron Street on April 13, 2016. (Ryan Stanton | MLive.com)Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News

ANN ARBOR, MI — Many aspects of Ann Arbor’s history will live on because of Ray Detter.

The local historian and longtime coordinator of the Downtown Ann Arbor Historical Street Exhibit was committed to preserving stories of the town’s past.

And as longtime chairman of the Downtown Area Citizens Advisory Council, he advised city leaders and the Downtown Development Authority on a wide array of matters, considered a steady voice in the city’s planning for the future.

Detter, a colorful character well known to many longtime Ann Arborites, died Saturday, July 27, at the age of 93.

Friends and fellow historians are remembering him for his big spirit and various contributions to the community spanning decades, saying he was everywhere and interested in everything, slowing down only in the last few years with old age.

Ray Detter sits in the backyard of his late-1800s Queen Anne home at 120 N. Division St. in Ann Arbor on May 25, 2015. (Ryan Stanton | MLive.com)Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News

“He had a wicked sense of humor and keen insights into every issue and every person who was shaping that issue,” said Chris Crockett, president of the Old Fourth Ward Association and the Ann Arbor Historical Foundation.

“He was truly a great Ann Arbor townie — involved in endless ways with the wellbeing of the city,” she said. “He also knew how to party. Whatever Ray did, he was all in.”

Ray Detter, center holding wine, with guests at one of his backyard parties on Division Street in Ann Arbor.Provided by Ilene Tyler

Detter lived for over three decades in his late-1800s Queen Anne home on Division Street, just north of Huron Street in the Old Fourth Ward.

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Crockett recalls starting the Old Fourth Ward Association with Detter in the 1980s, around the time the neighborhood gained historic status. They worked together for decades on issues, with her as president and him as vice president.

It also was in Detter’s backyard and an adjoining yard that hundreds of Ann Arborites came together every June for the Old Fourth Ward and Downtown Neighbors Spring Party.

Ray Detter, center holding food, with guests at one of his backyard parties on Division Street in Ann Arbor.Provided by Ilene Tyler

There was food, drinks, live music and croquet, and many of Ann Arbor’s most prominent citizens attended. Detter would send out personal invites saying, “We all know this is the best party of the year. Everyone will be here. It won’t be the same without you. Don’t miss it.”

Crockett said she came up with the idea for the party in the 1990s and Detter agreed to host it. It took place every year until the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and now a smaller version of it happens in another yard up the street.

“We both put a lot of work into the party, but Ray’s house and yard were huge attractions,” Crockett said of Detter’s antique-filled house. “The party grew in size and enthusiasm over the years. I think it was one of the few events that brought the whole city together just to share good food and a good time.”

Ray Detter speaks with Ann Arbor Mayor Pro Tem Sabra Briere during an appreciation event for Detter at The Greyline, a new Zingerman's event space at 100 N. Ashley St., on Sept. 14, 2016. (Ryan Stanton | MLive.com)Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News

Raised in Detroit, Detter moved to Ann Arbor in May 1961 after graduating from Wayne State University and teaching for a few years in Detroit Public Schools.

He came to pursue a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in history at the University of Michigan and never left. He made money as a seller of estate items and as a landlord, while spending his free time working to tell Ann Arbor’s story.

The downtown historical exhibit program he coordinated has worked since the 1990s to encapsulate the city’s rich history on dozens of informational panels now found on the sides of buildings and along sidewalks, featuring historical photos and writings about different parts of town.

A local history display about early German immigrants in Ann Arbor on Ashley Street downtown on May 30, 2024. (Ryan Stanton | MLive.com)Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News

Community members came together in 2016 for a special tribute dinner to express appreciation for Detter’s efforts. Then-Mayor Pro Tem Sabra Briere read a proclamation honoring him, saying he served the community tirelessly without pay for 40 years.

The Ann Arbor Historical Foundation at that time also announced a charitable fund was set up in Detter’s honor. In hopes of inspiring the next generation of young historians, a Ray Detter Local History Award is now given to local students for local history projects.

Detter’s death is a loss to Ann Arbor, said Susan Wineberg, a local historian and Old Fourth Ward resident who called Detter a force of nature.

“He was a strong-willed, determined and often opinionated person,” she said, recalling times she saw him walking determinedly from his home on Division Street to city hall, his arms bulging with manila folders.

Ray Detter at an appreciation event in his honor at The Greyline, a new Zingerman's event space at 100 N. Ashley St., on Sept. 14, 2016. (Ryan Stanton | MLive.com)Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News

Wineberg first met Detter at a hearing before the Housing Board of Appeals as they were asking for variances to avoid destroying historic home interiors, she said.

Shortly after, a proposed demolition on Ann Street led to the creation of a study committee to consider creating a historic district there and she and Detter were asked to join.

It was 1977 and they were coming off the celebrations of the Ann Arbor sesquicentennial in 1974 and the United States bicentennial in 1976, Wineberg said.

“Interest in preserving historic buildings was high,” she said. “We researched all the properties, wrote an ordinance, prepared a report, and presented our findings to city hall. The Ann Street Historic Block was established in 1979.”

Ray Detter, coordinator of the Downtown Ann Arbor Historical Street Exhibit Program, speaks at a dedication ceremony for new historical panels in Kerrytown as a crowd of community members, including Mayor John Hieftje at far right, listens.Provided by Ilene Tyler

Not wanting to respond to crises, but rather avoid more historic buildings facing demolition, that led to creating the larger Old Fourth Ward Historic District in 1983, she said. Some of Ann Arbor’s oldest buildings are now preserved there.

“Ray was the champion of both districts and we all spoke at many public hearings at city hall with him directing us like an orchestra,” Wineberg said.

Detter’s own house is in the adjacent Division Street Historic District established in 1973.

Ray Detter's late-1800s Queen Anne home at 120 N. Division St. in Ann Arbor's Old Fourth Ward historic neighborhood on June 10, 2024, with the Foundry Lofts high-rise along Huron Street to the south. (Ryan Stanton | MLive.com)Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News

When the idea for a downtown street exhibit came about, Winberg said Detter hired her with grant money to scour resources at the Bentley Historical Library to find images for the panels, while historians Louisa Pieper, Grace Shackman and Detter handled pulling together information to write the text.

Shackman recalls they met weekly to hammer out the wording and she and Piper would arrive at Detter’s house early in the afternoon as Detter would be getting up, as he had a busy night life and didn’t go to bed until late.

An old photo of Ray Detter on display at an appreciation event in his honor at The Greyline, a new Zingerman's event space at 100 N. Ashley St., on Sept. 14, 2016. (Ryan Stanton | MLive.com)Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News

“He was ready for lunch about 3 o’clock and would insist we join him in having a bowl of soup,” she said, recalling Detter sometimes reminisced about his childhood in those years.

“He and his brother, who were clearly handfuls, were raised by a single mother,” she said. “One time they were sent to a summer camp for needy children and not liking it ... they escaped and somehow found their way home.”

Their mother wasn’t happy about that, she said.

Local historian Ray Detter featured on a poster for Ann Arbor's Fifth Avenue and Detroit Street brick street restoration project in April 2018. (Ryan Stanton | MLive.com)Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News

Detter also hosted parties in his backyard to thank those who helped with the downtown street exhibit, Wineberg said, recalling those occasions involved a long table with fine china, glassware and candelabra. They’d eat in the shade of ancient bur oaks with candles flickering in the dark and it was magical, she said.

“Ray was one of a kind,” Wineberg said, calling him a wild and crazy spirit. “He was an Ann Arbor original.”

Detter, who celebrated his 93rd birthday on July 16, spent his final weeks receiving visits from close friends. He will be cremated and there will be a celebration of his life sometime after Aug. 20 in his backyard, Crockett said.

Ray Detter at an appreciation event in his honor at The Greyline, a new Zingerman's event space at 100 N. Ashley St., on Sept. 14, 2016. (Ryan Stanton | MLive.com)Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News

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