56 | JANUARY 12 • 2022
OBITUARIES
OF BLESSED MEMORY
I
t is with great sadness that
the family announces the
passing of their mother,
Harriet B. Rotter, on Dec.
23, 2022, eight months after
the death of their father, Dr.
Norman “Norm” Rotter.
Born in Detroit on Sept. 19,
1939, Harriet was the eldest
of four children of immigrant
parents from Lithuania
and Poland. During her
childhood, she looked out for
her younger siblings and was
taught to put family first.
As a child, Harriet attended
Hampton Elementary School,
followed by Mumford High
School. Her time at Mumford
shaped the course of her
life: During her first year
there, when just 13 years
old, Harriet met her future
husband, Norm, who was
three years ahead of her
in school. Intelligent and
driven, Harriet graduated
high school a year early, at
the age of 16. She spent her
freshman year of college at
Northwestern University, but
soon transferred to Wayne
State University, where Norm
was enrolled in medical
school. From that point on,
the two were never apart.
Norm and Harriet married in
1958, when she was 18 and he
was 21. Their marriage lasted
for 63 years.
During college, Harriet
again worked at an
accelerated pace and
graduated in just three
years. She was immediately
offered a teaching position at
Berkley High School; given
that she was only 19, special
permission from the state
of Michigan was required
for Harriet to begin. It was
granted.
In the early years of their
marriage, Harriet and Norm
had three sons, Steven,
Michael and David. Norm
and their boys were Harriet’s
top priorities and the
loves of her life. She
had a strong moral
compass and instilled
in her children
values she felt were
important, including
loyalty and fairness.
Women’s rights was
a strong passion of
hers, too; and during
the ’60s, Harriet developed a
strong interest in politics.
In 1972, Harriet was
encouraged by fellow
progressives in the
Republican party to run
for Congress. She did. An
Equal Rights Amendment
enthusiast, Harriet was the
only woman in Michigan to
run for national office that
year; she was endorsed by the
Detroit News and Detroit Free
Press and had an impressive
showing. Although she
lost the race, she gained
recognition in political
circles across party lines.
Throughout the campaign,
Norm saw Harriet’s passion
for government and law
grow along with her talents
and ambitions. With Norm’s
urging and support, Harriet
enrolled in the University of
Detroit Law School, where
she was one of six women in
her class.
After passing the bar in
1975, Harriet worked for
Oakland County Prosecutor
L. Brooks Patterson; later
she went into private
practice with colleagues
from the prosecutor’s office.
Appearances on local news
shows, such as Kelly &
Company and Good Morning
Detroit, focusing on women’s
legal issues became the
impetus for Harriet to focus
her career on family law. It’s
only natural that she
ultimately opened
her own family law
practice, Rotter
& Stone, with her
niece, Nancy Komer
Stone, in 2015.
Harriet took great
pride in the firm’s
success.
Throughout the
course of her four-decade
career, Harriet shattered
glass ceilings and received
numerous honors: She was
the first woman inducted into
the Academy of Matrimonial
Lawyers and served as the
first woman president of
the Michigan chapter. She
was inducted into The Best
Lawyers in America an
impressive 21 times and was
regularly featured in Michigan
Super Lawyers. In 2018, she
was prominently featured on
the cover of Leading Lawyers
as the top celebrity divorce
lawyer in Michigan.
Harriet’s political
accomplishments were
equally as impressive: She was
a delegate at the Republican
National Convention in 1980,
had several appointments
from Gov. John Engler,
was appointed by President
George W
. Bush to serve
on the President’s Advisory
Committee for the John
F. Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts, as well as
on the Commission for the
Preservation of America’s
Heritage Abroad. The latter
was particularly significant
for Harriet on a personal
level, too: Her role brought
her to Poland, where she
visited her father’s shtetl and
to her mother’s birth home in
Lithuania.
Harriet had more energy
than most and was a spirited
soul. She adored the Detroit
Tigers (never missing opening
day), Broadway musicals,
modern art, Frank Sinatra,
prime rib and chocolate. Most
of all, she loved her family.
She was extremely close with
her younger siblings, Judith,
Jeffrey and the late Bunny.
A true trailblazer, Harriet
was a role model to her
children, her siblings, her
students, her colleagues and
her community. She will be
forever remembered, missed
and loved.
Harriet B. Rotter was the
beloved wife for 63 years of
Dr. Norman Rotter; cherished
mother of Dr. Steven (Lisa)
Rotter, Michael (Tara) Rotter
and David (Holly) Rotter;
proud grandmother of Dr.
Jacob (Dr. Michelle Sheyman)
Rotter, Maxwell (Hannah)
Rotter, Daniel Rotter, Mitchell
Rotter and Jack Henry
Lowenstein; loving sister of
Judith (Richard) Komer, Dr.
Jeffrey (Meredith Weston)
Band and the late Bunny
Band; devoted daughter of
the late Herman and the late
Dorothy Band Cooperman;
loving daughter-in-law of the
late Roy and the late Sylvia
Rotter. She is also survived
by many loving nieces and
nephews.
Contributions in honor
of Harriet B. Rotter may
be made to Wayne State
University Memorial Gifts
for Harriet and Norman J.
Rotter, 5475 Woodward Ave.,
Detroit, MI, 48202, giving.
wayne.edu/donate/rotter; or
to a charity of one’s choice.
An Indelible Woman
Harriet Rotter