Funeral plans for late Highland Park Mayor Linsey Porter revealed

Highland Park’s longest-serving mayor will be memorialized this week with a horse-drawn funeral procession through the city. 

Linsey Porter, Highland Park’s mayor from 1991-2003, died on June 18 from pneumonia complications at age 65. Visitation is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday at the J.W. Henry Funeral Home, 12700 Hamilton.

Porter’s funeral will take place 10 a.m. Friday at Soul Harvest Ministries located at 17 Church St. in Highland Park. His funeral procession by horse-drawn carriage, which will eventually be exchanged for a hearse, will travel a little over 1.5 miles down Woodward Avenue starting at 12:15 p.m. 

Porter, a Highland Park native and the city's youngest mayor when he was elected, faced significant challenges from the start of his three consecutive mayoral terms.

The year after Porter took office, Chrysler Corp., then Highland Park’s largest employer, moved its headquarters to Auburn Hills. Highland Park was $13 million in debt when Porter took over, and Chrysler's move took one-third of the city's operating budget with it.

Highland Park continued to overspend its budget, mostly on law enforcement, during Porter's terms. By 2001, millions in debt, Highland Park was assigned an emergency financial manager by the Michigan Department of Treasury after Porter asked for state help.

Porter stepped back from the public eye in 2002 in the midst of managing a city that nearly went bankrupt, going months without a salary himself after the state took over and temporarily laying off most of the city's employees. 

Porter’s early 2000s term also saw the former Chrysler space transformed into Oakland Industrial Park and brought communications company Budco to town with a $30 million Highland Park headquarters. The longtime mayor brought some $300 million in development to the city during his 12 years in office.

While Porter sought a fourth term in 2003 and won the primary election by one vote, he withdrew his candidacy, citing the state's ongoing oversight on city finances and his own health issues in stepping away. 

After his mayoral career, Porter helped his wife run two adult foster care facilities. Porter’s family is requesting that instead of flowers, mourners or funeral attendees bring plants for or make donations to the E.M. Coleman Adult Foster Care Facility in Highland Park.

Porter will be interred at Detroit's historic Elmwood Cemetery Friday.

Source: Freep.com

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