Michigan lost philanthropists, judges, civil rights advocates, sports figures, Motown artists and community organizers in 2022.

A 100-year-old Tuskegee Airman, Miss America 1970, an astronaut from the Apollo 9 mission, groundbreaking LGBTQ activists, the man who created the Farmer Jack grocery chain and other founders of iconic businesses in the Detroit area, Mackinac Island and Frankenmuth were among those Michigan said goodbye to this year.

Here are some of the most notable Michigan figures who died in 2022:

Lt. Col. Alexander Jefferson

Retired Lt. Col. Alexander Jefferson, a member of the Tuskegee Airmen, World War II prisoner of war and lifelong Detroiter, died June 22 at 100 years old.

The Tuskegee Airmen were the nation’s first African American military pilots, and Jefferson was among the first to escort bombers in WWII.

He served in World War II as a P-51 fighter pilot with the 332nd Fighter Group-301st Fighter Squadron in Ramitelli, Italy, later called the “Red Tails.” Jefferson flew 18 missions before being shot down and held as a prisoner in Poland for eight months in 1944-45.