Famous people's places / Redford Township
Detroit Memorial Park West
One of two linked Detroit Memorial Park cemeteries, historically serving Detroit's Black community since 1925, and the burial place of Contours singer Sylvester Potts.
01 / The story of this place
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The Detroit Memorial Park Association was formed in 1925 to run a dignified cemetery for Detroit's African American community at a time when many area cemeteries excluded Black families. The association later split its grounds into two sites: the original Detroit Memorial Park East in Warren and a second West location in Redford Township, west of the city, both still run by the same association today. Sylvester Potts, an original member of the Motown vocal group the Contours, best known for the 1962 hit 'Do You Love Me,' was laid to rest at Detroit Memorial Park West after his death in 2017. The cemetery remains an active, privately run burial ground, tied closely to Detroit's Black history through the generations of families it has served for a century.
- Detroit Memorial Park Association founded 1925 to serve Detroit's Black community
- Cemetery grounds split between an East site in Warren and this West site in Redford Township
- Contours singer Sylvester Potts is buried here
- Still an active, operating cemetery today
Famous Detroiters
Famous people tied to this place 1
Lexicon entries for the people who lived, worked, performed or liked to spend time here.
- Sylvester Potts 1938–2017 · singer, songwriter
Buried here
His grave (per Wikidata).
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Sources & fact check · Checked: 2026-09-25
An independently written bilingual guide. This collection is not an attendance-based ranking.
03 / Events
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