Sue Scherwitz

Sue Scherwitz

Sue Scherwitz recounts the unusual details of her wedding which took place during the unrest on July 28, 1967.

Detroit Historical Society

08/03/2015

Detroit Historical Society, Detroit, MI

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Lochmoor Country Club, Grosse Pointe Woods, MI

I have a story for you. I was married on the Friday of the riots. I had jokingly sent my future husband a wedding invitation. If I had not done that he would not have been allowed into Michigan! Lee, my husband. was in the military (Air Force) and was stationed in Kansas City just prior to our wedding. He was then going on to Florida for training on the F-4 before being deployed to the Vietnam War. The National Guard checked his ID and the fact that he was the groom on the invite and then let him drive along I-94 where there were gun emplacements on all the bridges. This was on Monday that he arrived for the wedding on Friday. Tuesday we drove downtown to get our license and did not stay long as things did not look good. The reception for the wedding was to be at Lochmoor Country Club where my parents were members, but with the curfew and the hold on liquor it would be a dry wedding and a short reception. My dad, who was the CEO of US Truck Compan,y had some split bottles of champagne at work so he brought those home and we wrapped each one for the women who were at the reception. For the men we wrapped Dad's collection of tiny bottles of liquor. We did have one drunk at the wedding, but I think he started before the reception! He was a lawyer. My brother-in-law was to be the best man for my husband, but he was in the National Guard and because of his rank he could have come for the wedding, but he could not let a private off to get married so he stayed too. As a result, my oldest brother took his place in the wedding party wearing the tux meant for a shorter guy. All the pictures show my brother George with his hands behind his back. The reception ended early because of the curfew, but my dad invited anyone who wanted to come back to our house to party some more. Also because of the riots my flowers for the wedding almost did not come in, but they did arrive just in time. We remember the riots all the time as we celebrate our anniversary. Yes we are still married; we had four children and we have eight grandchildren.

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National Guard, Air Force, Lochmoor Country Club, Kansas City, wedding,