Flags at Half Staff as Milliken Mourned

Flags at Michigan state facilities will remain at half staff through November 1st in honor of the late former Governor William Milliken. Governor Gretchen Whitmer ordered that the observance run 14 days – one day for each year Milliken served as governor.

Milliken passed away Friday at his home in Traverse City at age 97.

After serving heroically and winning a purple heart in World War Two, he assumed management of his family’s department store in Traverse City.

He was elected to the state senate in 1960, and became Lieutenant Governor as George Romney’s running mate in 1964. Milliken took over as governor when Romney joined Richard Nixon’s cabinet in 1969, and won terms on his own merits in 1970, 1974 and 1978. He was Michigan’s longest-serving governor.

A moderate Republican who worked successfully with powerful Democratic Detroit mayor Coleman Young, Milliken had become increasingly disenchanted as his party became more radical, and had supported several Democratic candidates in recent years.