Public Visitation For Mike Ilitch Scheduled For Wednesday At Fox Theatre
DETROIT (WWJ) -- The Ilitch family provided details on ways in which community members can share their memories and pay their respects to Mike Ilitch on Sunday.
Beginning Monday at 1 p.m., there will be a Public Memorial Display where community members are invited to share memories or write messages of condolence on a temporary, public memorial site to be organized outside of Comerica Park, near the "Big Tiger." Memorial sentiments will be saved and shared with family.
Wednesday from 12 p.m. until 8 p.m., there will be a public visitation at the Fox Theatre Grand Lobby, where Ilitch will lie in repose. Community members are invited to the lobby of the national historic site that Ilitch and his wife, Marian, fully restored and established as the world headquarters of Little Caesars in 1989.
Additional memorial opportunities and recognition events will be planned, including at Joe Louis Arena, the Lakeland Complex and the Little Caesars Arena construction site.
Ilitch's family released a statement following the announcement of the visitation plans.
"To everyone who has so graciously remembered Mike Ilitch, we extend a heartfelt thank you. The volume of condolences and kind wishes overwhelms us, and we appreciate it more than words can express. We know that he would've been touched by the outpouring of support, especially from this community that he so loved. We will miss him tremendously, and we are grateful, humbled and comforted to know that his lifetime was filled with well-lived moments."
Ilitch, the co-founder of Little Caesars Pizza, owner of the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings, Chairman of Ilitch Holdings, died on Friday at age 87.
