to 2005 indicate Ilitch Holdings, Inc. members and business partners have contributed more than $500,000 to political campaigns and PACs. After civil rights icon Rosa Parks was attacked in her Detroit apartment in 1994, Ilitch quietly paid years of Parks's rent to enable her to live in a safer part of Detroit. Personal life Ilitch was married to Marian Ilitch (née Bayoff, born 1933), who would go on to become one of the world's wealthiest women. Like Ilitch, his wife was born in Michigan to immigrants from Macedonia. Together, they had seven children: Denise Ilitch Lites (born 1955), an attorney; Ron Ilitch (1957 – 2018), who died of a fentanyl overdose at the age of 61; Michael Ilitch, Jr., a film producer whose credits include Lost in Space (1998) and The Angriest Man in Brooklyn (2014); Christopher Ilitch (born 1965), the current CEO of Ilitch Holdings; Lisa Ilitch Murray, who served as the executive vice president of the Detroit Red Wings; Atanas Ilitch, an actor and singer whose most notable credit was that of the Driller Killer in Slumber Party Massacre II (1987); and Carole Ilitch Trepeck, also an attorney. The family was presented the key to the City of Detroit by Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick in February 2008, and were the fifth recipients of this award. Death Ilitch died on February 10, 2017, at the age of 87 in Detroit, Michigan. The Red Wings wore a patch on their right shoulders in his memory, which featured his nickname "Mr. I" in a rectangle, for the remainder of the season; in addition, the nickname was featured on the ice at Joe Louis Arena, being painted on the center section of the rink, facing the Red Wings' bench. The Detroit Tigers also wore a black patch with his nickname "Mr. I' in a circle on the right sleeve of their home and away jerseys. In the aftermath of this death, his son, Christopher, took control of Ilitch Holdings and its properties. See also List of members of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame List of members of the Hockey Hall of Fame References External links 1929 births 2017 deaths American billionaires American food company founders American food industry business executives American people of Macedonian descent Arena Football League executives Businesspeople from Detroit Detroit Red Wings owners Detroit Tigers executives Detroit Tigers owners Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Lester Patrick Trophy recipients