It’s commonplace that after someone dies, we learn some of their biggest secrets. Occasionally, they are good things that no one knew existed, but, mostly, they’re skeletons the deceased might have wished had been left in the closet.
Fortunately, this one definitely falls into the “good” category.
After Mike Ilitch died, many eulogized him (and rightfully so) as the owner of Little Caesars and the longtime owner of the Detroit Tigers. Others quietly remembered him as the guy who helped ensure that Rosa Parks had a roof over her head.
That’s right…for more than a decade, the pizza mogul paid the rent for the Civil Rights icon.
“Mike Ilitch is totally committed to Detroit,” friend Judge Damon Keith said back in 2014. “He brought the Little Caesars corporate offices here. He saved the Fox Theatre. He built Comerica Park, and he kept the hockey and baseball teams thriving here when times were tough. But of all the incredible things he has done for the city, people should know what he did for Rosa Parks.”
You see, back in 1994, Parks was robbed and assaulted in her central Detroit home. Keith jumped in to help find the 81-year-old a new, safer home. This is where Ilitch gets involved.
After reading about Keith’s plan in the newspaper, he called his friend and said he would pay for Parks’ housing for as long as necessary. Parks passed away in 2005 at the age of 92.
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