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